Children starting their formal education in Delhi from 2026-27 will spend three years in preschool before moving to Class I at the age of six years.

The Directorate of Education under the Delhi government on Friday issued a circular on restructuring the age criteria for the foundational stage from the next year and implementing a uniform age of admission of 6+ years for Class I.

At present, children are admitted to nursery at the age of three, move to kindergarten next year and enter Class I at the age of five years.

The directive has been issued in line with the National Education Policy (NEP), which increased the two-year foundational stage to three years. Under the NEP, a child will be admitted to nursery (Balvatika-1) at the age of three years and move to LKG and UKG in the next two years before entering Class I at the age of six.

According to the circular, the schools in Delhi, including private schools, will have to follow the new norms from next year in a phased manner. The children taking admission in nursery in 2026-27 will be the first batch to follow these new rules. They will be required to be 3+ as on March 31, 2026. However, the schools will have the freedom to grant a one-month relaxation in age.

The new norms will not apply to children already admitted to nursery in the current academic year (2025-26).

Teachers and principals of private schools have welcomed the decision, but their counterparts in government schools have expressed concern over the lack of infrastructure and teaching staff.

“This is a good move. The children spending three years in preschool will be better acquainted with the school environment and will develop the required skills to move on to Class I. In the educationally developed nation, the admission age for Class I is six years,” said Sudha Acharya, principal of ITL Public School.

She said the schools would have three years to set up additional infrastructure and appoint teachers to manage an extra preschool year.

A teacher of a government school in Delhi said municipality and Sarvodaya schools, which run on a limited capacity, currently offer a two-year nursery programme.

“The main challenge will be poor infrastructure and inadequate teachers. There are not sufficient teachers in all schools, which depend on guest faculty. The government needs to create more classrooms and appoint more staff,” the teacher said.

Ashok Agrawal, an educationist and lawyer, said the new rules violated the Delhi School Establishment Act, 1973. “The government has issued an executive order. It has very little legal standing. The Delhi School Establishment Act says five-year-old students are eligible for admission to Class I. Delhi High Court had interpreted this provision and issued an order in 2007 to reiterate that children aged five will be admitted to Class I,” Agrawal said.