Odisha govt revises enrolment age for class 1 to 6+ years

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 earlier on January 15 this year 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.

Meanwhile, 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.

The state government also informed that the revision in the State Curriculum Frameworks will be initiated in a phased manner from academic year 2025-26, with the National Curriculum Framework Foundational Stage (NCF FS), being adopted in the first phase, with local contextualisation for the state.

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.

The academic structure envisaged under the NEP comprises of 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.

Earlier, the Odisha government had constituted a high-level task force under the chairpersonship of the Development Commissioner to suggest measures to be taken up for the implementation of NEP 2020 in the state of Odisha.

Subsequently, a State Steering Committee, chaired by Prof. Nityanand Pradhan, Former Principal of RIE, Bhopal, was constituted to develop the State Curriculum Frameworks.

The committee will be responsible for preparing the State Curriculum Frameworks in alignment with the National Curriculum Frameworks in local contextualisation.

As per official sources, a three-day National Workshop on the implementation of NEP 2020 in Odisha will be organised from January 21 to 23.

–IANS