Under-11s can be admitted to Class VI: HC

The High Court has stayed the age limit of 11 years set by the Ministry of Education for admission to class VI, which means there is no bar for students under 11 seeking admission in class VI.

The court has also ordered for extending the 27 December application deadline by a week.

An HC bench of Justices JBM Hasan and Mohammad Khairul Alam passed the orders on Tuesday during a preliminary hearing of a writ petition filed by the father of a student who failed to apply within the stipulated time due to age limit.

Barrister Anik R Haque appeared for the writ petition in the court, accompanied by lawyer Barrister Manzoor Elahi Parag and lawyer Advocate Ainun Nahar.

The Ministry of Education had fixed the eligible age of admission in government secondary schools for the 2021 academic year, which is why children under the age of 11 were unable to apply for admission in the sixth grade for the upcoming session.

Barrister Manzoor Elahi Parag told reporters that the government had issued a notification, fixing 15-27 December for admission. Mizanur Rahman, the father of a student (date-of-birth, 30 July 2011) from Munshiganj, tried to submit an online application for his child for class VI, but the software did not accept the application due to the age limit.  

The admission policy issued by the Ministry of Education on 15 November 2017 stipulates that students must be over six years old for admission in class I, based on which the eligible age of admission for class VI has been accordingly set in the software at 11.

Meanwhile, another government order stipulates that a student must be at least 14 years old to take part in the Secondary School Certificate exams.

Mohammad Mizan, a student's guardian and complainant, told reporters, "Due to the age barrier, my daughter was unable to apply for admission in class VI. I appealed to the relevant people on 23 December seeking redressal of the issue. I filed a writ petition in the HC when no action was taken."