NT Reporter
Panaji
The Goa government on Tuesday introduced the Goa School Education (Amendment) Bill, 2026 in the Goa Legislative Assembly, seeking substitution of Section 18 of the Goa School Education Act, 1984 (Goa Act 15 of 1985), relating to admissions in recognised schools.
The Bill, introduced by Chief Minister Pramod Sawant, said that a child who has not attained the age of six years on or before June 1 of the year in which admission is sought shall not be admitted to Class I or an equivalent class, or to any class higher than Class I, in a recognised school. It further provided that for the academic year 2025–26, any child who has attained the age of five years and six months on or before June 1 of that academic year shall be admitted to Class I or an equivalent class in a recognised school.
The Bill said that a student seeking admission for the first time in a recognised school in a class higher than Class I shall not be admitted to that class if the student’s age, when reduced by the number of years of normal school study between that class and Class I or an equivalent class, falls short of six years.
It said that the amendment seeks to substitute Section 18 of the Goa School Education Act, 1984, in order to enhance the age for admission to Standard I and bring it in consonance with the National Education Policy 2020 and the provisions of the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act, 2009, which prescribe six years as the minimum age for admission to Class I in recognised schools.
