Odisha fixes Class 1 enrolment age at 6-plus years
![Odisha fixes Class 1 enrolment age at 6-plus years Odisha fixes Class 1 enrolment age at 6-plus years](https://assets.thehansindia.com/h-upload/2025/01/22/1516707-sss.webp)
Bhubaneswar: The Odisha government has revised the enrolment age for Class 1 to 6+ years as per the mandates under the National Education Policy 2020. The Odisha School and Mass Education (S&ME) department had on January 15 announced the implementation of the National Education Policy in the State and the adoption of National Curriculum Frameworks with local contextualisation as the State Curriculum Frameworks.
The S&ME department, in a notification issued on Monday, announced revising the age for admission into Class 1 in the State. “Commencing from the academic year 2025-26, the age of the child for admission in Class 1 shall be 6+ years as of 1st September of that academic year,” informed the S&ME department notification.
In another significant decision, the department has directed that Shishu Vatika will be opened in all the primary schools this academic year for admission of children in the age- group of 5-6 years for pre-school education. Notably, the Odisha government has decided to implement the National Education Policy 2020 in the State in a phased manner from the academic year 2025-26. As per the NEP 2020, the first 15 years of a child’s education will be modified phase-wise to the 5+3+3+4 structure covering ages 3-18 years. The academic structure envisaged under the NEP comprises Foundational Stage (5 years) spanning from ages 3-8, corresponding to 3 years of pre-school and 2 years of Grades 1 and 2, Preparatory Stage (3 years) spanning from ages 8 –11, corresponding grades 3 to 5, Middle Stage (3 years) spanning from ages 11-14, corresponding grades 6 to 8, and Secondary Stage (4 years) spanning from ages 14-18, corresponding grades 9 -12. The State, in its initial phase of the policy implementation, is focusing on modification in the Foundational Stage and will roll out implementation for the preparatory, middle and secondary stages in subsequent phases.