More than half of India’s five-year-olds are enrolled in primary school rather than pre-primary education, raising concerns about whether children are entering formal schooling before the recommended age, according to UNESCO’s 2026 Global Education Monitoring (GEM) report released on Friday.
What the UNESCO report said
However, the report cautioned against assuming that all children entering primary school early have missed preschool. In India, provision is split between Anganwadi centres under the Ministry of Women and Child Development and emerging pre-primary classes under state education departments. Implementation of the age norm, however, has varied across states. The report also raised wider concerns about global access to education.
The share of students entering Class 1 with prior preschool experience increased from 41% in 2019 to 80% in 2025, suggesting that some children attend preschool before entering primary school early. India’s findings come as the country works to implement the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 , which places children aged three to eight in the foundational stage. The framework comprises three years of preschool education, followed by Classes 1 and 2, and recommends that children enter Class 1 at age 6. The Union education ministry directed states and Union territories in February 2023 to align the age of admission to Class 1 at six-plus years. Bal Vatika programmes have also been introduced in Kendriya Vidyalayas (KVs), while the three-month play-based module, Vidya Pravesh school preparation, was launched in July 2021 to help children transition into Class 1. An estimated 273 million children, adolescents and young people were out of school in 2024, 3% more than in 2015. The number has risen for seven consecutive years after declining by 33% between 2000 and 2015.
Such fragmentation, it said, “reduces quality assurance capacity” and constrains curriculum-related efforts.
