Parents Forcing Children before 3 Yrs of age to Attend Pre-School Are Committing 'Illegal Act': Gujarat High Court
Lexpedia News · 5 September 2023 · 2 min read
Abstract:
The Gujarat High Court dismissed several petitions challenging the State government's decision to implement a minimum age limit of six years for admission to Class 1 from the current academic year. The parents argued that their children should be exempt from the age requirement since they had attended preschool before turning three. However, the court rejected this argument. While doing so, a division bench comprising Chief Justice Sunita Agarwal and Justice NV Anjaria further added that forcing children to go to a pre-school below the age of 3 years is “Illegal Act”.
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The parents had sought admission for their kids into Class 1, despite them not having reached the mandatory age of six years by June 1, 2023. This age requirement is outlined in both the amended Right to Education (RTE) Act and the guidelines of the New Education Policy. Although the High Court dismissed these petitions last month.
The Gujarat High Court has declared that sending kids to join preschool before they reach the age of three is a violation of the law by parents. Chief Justice Sunita Agarwal and Justice N V Anjaria, expressed their disapproval of the practice while dismissing multiple petitions filed by parents.
The petitioning parents contended that since their children had attended preschool before turning three and spent three years there, they should be exempt from the minimum age requirement and allowed admission to primary school. However, the High Court rejected this argument, stating, "Forcing children to go to a preschool before they turn three is an illegal act on the part of the petitioner parents. The contention that the children are school-ready as they have completed three years of elementary education in a preschool, therefore, does not impress us at all."
The court further elucidated that the law clearly forbids the admission of a kid to preschool before reaching 3 years of age by June 1 of the academic year.
Conspicuously, the Right to Education (RTE) rules have been in effect in Gujarat since 2012, and a previous challenge to this provision was already dismissed by the High Court in 2013.
The court highlighted that parents with children who have not yet reached the age of 6 by June 1, 2023, cannot seek leniency or special treatment, as they are in violation of the Right to Education (RTE) rules of 2012, which align with the RTE Act of 2008.
