The Uttar Pradesh Madhyamik Shiksha Parishad (UP Board) has issued fresh guidelines directing schools to rely only on prescribed documentary evidence while admitting children to primary and upper primary classes, a move aimed at preventing irregularities in the recording of students’ dates of birth. The Prayagraj-based UP Board headquarters (HT File) In a letter dated July 29 sent to director of basic education Anil Bhushan Chaturvedi, UP Board secretary Bhagwati Singh said headmasters of government-run primary and upper primary schools often fail to mention the document on the basis of which a child’s date of birth is recorded at the time of first admission. This creates doubts about the authenticity of school records and leads to a large number of requests for correction of dates of birth in UP Board certificates. The Board has directed that if a birth certificate issued under the Births, Deaths and Marriages Registration Act, 1886 is unavailable, schools may verify a child’s age using one of four alternative documents: hospital or Auxiliary Nurse Midwife (ANM) birth records, Anganwadi records, village …