Gurgaon: This admission season has brought unexpected disappointment for Aman. The boy — who will turn six on April 2 — has been denied entry to Class 1 for missing the eligibility cutoff by just two days.Aman’s case is not an isolated one. Across Gurgaon, many children are being asked to repeat LKG or UKG despite completing the previous class. The stricter implementation — introduced after Haryana govt’s March 24 decision in line with National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 — has ended the informal grace period schools once allowed. The March 24 decision has enforced a strict six-year minimum age for Class 1 admissions.Aman’s parents say he was eagerly preparing to move ahead with his friends, but the school informed them that under Haryana’s newly enforced rule, children must be six years old by March 31, leaving no room for exceptions.School authorities say they are bound to follow the guidelines, but for parents, especially in cases where both parents are working with no support system — like Aman’s — the rigid rule has turned a small gap of days into the loss of an entire academic year, leaving families anxious and disheartened.A Gurgaon-based parent shared that his child, born on April 15, 2021, is currently 4 years, 11 months and 15 days old and has just completed LKG. However, instead of being promoted to UKG, the school has asked the child to repeat LKG. The reason, he explained, is that under the strict age mandate, the child would fall short by just 15 days of the required six years when reaching Class 1 if promoted normally. “We were earlier told not to worry about the age gap and that some relaxation would be given, but now the school says it cannot go against the rules,” he said.Unlike previous years, when schools informally allowed a grace period of up to six months for children slightly underage, the revised directive leaves no room for exceptions. Children must now meet the age criteria by the March 31 cutoff, failing which they are ineligible for admission to the next class.The impact is being felt across entry-level classes as well. In one case, a child seeking admission to LKG was denied because she will turn four only in June, missing the cutoff. Despite already completing nursery elsewhere, her parents were advised to re-enrol her in the same class.School authorities say they are compelled to follow the guidelines strictly. A primary head from a private school in Palam Vihar noted a sharp rise in such cases this admission season. “Earlier, a few months’ relaxation helped both parents and schools manage such situations. Now, with zero flexibility, even minor age gaps are leading to repetition of classes,” she said.Parents, meanwhile, are grappling with both academic and financial concerns. Many are reluctantly agreeing to hold their children back a year to comply with the rules, even if it means repeating the same class. With long queues at schools and increasing admission queries, the rigid enforcement of the age criteria is leaving several families disheartened as they navigate an increasingly inflexible system.
