'RTE Act doesn’t define outcome of learning'

Age limit is an issue. We feel that children in the age group of three to four years should go to nursery so that there is uniformity of age in higher education. Upper age limit is not fixed. Thus, anyone from three to five years can join nursery. This is a wider gap that can be an issue in higher classes. The RTE speaks of age-appropriate class. Therefore, three to four years is for nursery, four to five is for pre-primary, and five to six if for Class I.

We feel that age of admission should be between 3.5 and 4.5 years, which is how it was before the RTE came into effect. The new lower age limit is a result of certain petitions in court. I personally believe that formal schooling should start when he/she is mentally and physically fit for it. No matter how stress-free the school tries to keep its environment, there are some pressures like adhering to time-limit or homework. So age limit for admission to nursery should be increased but upper age limit should also be fixed. I was part of the delegation that met the advisory board that was headed by the Education Minster and they said the government will decide on the issue of age limit after the admissions are over.

Did your school face any problems in deciding criteria for admission?

The Directorate of Education started the admission process on January 1, 2013. The last date for schools to submit their admission criteria was

... contd.