Forcing kids below three to attend pre-school is illegal: Gujarat HC

The Gujarat High Court said that it's illegal on the part of parents to force their kids to attend preschool below the age of three.

The Gujarat High Court in western India has declared it an "illegal act" for parents to force children under the age of three to attend preschool.

The petitioners requested the court to allow children who completed three years in preschool but hadn't yet reached the age of six by June 1, 2023, to be admitted for the current academic year. While rejecting the petitions, the court said, "forcing children to go to a preschool below the age of three years is an illegal act on the part of the parents who are petitioners before us," as reported by Hindustan Times.

The petitioners "cannot seek any leniency as they are guilty of a violation of the mandate of the Right to Education Rules, 2012 of the Right to Education Act, 2009", added the division bench of Chief Justice Sunita Agarwal and Justice N V Anjaria.

"A bare perusal of Rule 8 shows that there is a prohibition for admission of a child in a preschool who has not completed three years of age as on June 1 of the academic year. Three years of 'early childhood care and education' in a preschool prepares a child to take admission in 1st standard in a formal school," it said.

As per the New Education Policy 2020 — described as one of the most groundbreaking reforms in the Indian education system by Prime Minister Modi's administration — kids are supposed to be admitted at three years for nursery, four years for Lower Kindergarten (LKG), and five years for Upper Kindergarten (UKG).

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