Compared to 2024-25 and 2023-24, a higher number of students (2.16 crore) were admitted to class 1 in 2022-23.THE PERCENTAGE of students with pre-school experience when admitted to Class 1 has seen an uptick in recent years, hitting 80% in 2024-2025, says the Education Ministry’s latest UDISE+ report.Of the 1.92 crore students admitted to class 1 in 2024-25, 80% (1.54 crore students) had pre-school experience in the same school or another school or an anganwadi centre, according to the UDISE+ report for 2024-25 released on Thursday.This is up from 73% in 2023-24 when of the 1.87 crore students admitted in class 1, around 1.37 crore had pre-school experience.More students admitted to private schools in class 1 had pre-school experience (82%) compared to government schools (79%). The National Education Policy (NEP), 2020 recommends universal access to early childhood care and education, that is learning before class 1 in anganwadis and pre-primary classes of schools, by 2030. The policy envisions that every child, before the age of 5, will move to a ‘preparatory class’ or ‘balvatika’, which will have a teacher qualified in early childhood care and education.In line with the NEP, the Union Education Ministry had, in its communications to states in the past two years, urged them to ensure that students are enrolled in class 1 only at the age of 6 or above. States and Union Territories that had not been enforcing this so far, like Delhi, Karnataka, and Kerala, have announced that they are likely to do so from the next academic session onwards.A senior official in the Ministry of Education said this push for enrolment only at age 6 or above in class 1 could result in more children arriving in class 1 with some degree of pre-school experience. The official added that some private pre-primary institutions remain out of the UDISE+ count and the Ministry is attempting to incorporate them in the system.Compared to 2024-25 and 2023-24, a higher number of students (2.16 crore) were admitted to class 1 in 2022-23. Education Ministry officials had earlier pointed to the age limit of six years as a possible reason for the fall in class 1 admissions.Story continues below this adIn 2022-23, around 77% (1.67 crore students) of those admitted in class 1 had pre-school experience. From 2018-19 to 2021-22, UDISE+ reports show that the percentage of students admitted in class 1 who had pre-school experience ranged from 41% to 53%. In 2021-22, for instance, 1.02 crore students had pre-school experience (53%) out of the 1.91 crore admitted in class 1. Officials in the Education Ministry, however, maintain that the UDISE+ data collection method has changed from 2022-23 onwards, when student-wise details began to be maintained rather than collecting aggregated numbers at the school level.© The Indian Express Pvt LtdTags:National Education Policy