Kerala to allow admission to first standard at the age of 5

Despite a union government directive, Kerala will continue to admit students to class I at the age of five years, general education minister V Sivankutty said.

The union ministry of education has asked states and union territories to align their age of admission in schools with that of the National Education Policy (NEP) that proposes admission to class I at the age of six and above.

As many as 14 states and Union Territories, including Kerala, allow class 1 admission for children before completing six years of age.

All children in the state join the schooling system and the majority of them pursue studies till class 12 as the dropout rate in the state was very low, compared to the national average.