Ban kids from starting school until they turn five to ensure they don't fall behind, experts say
Ban kids from starting school until they turn five to ensure they don't fall behind, experts say | News.com.au
CHILDREN should be banned from starting formal education before they turn five, with experts warning students who begin too young are falling behind and calling for a standard national school age.
Amid a new international push towards later school entry, early childhood teaching experts and peak bodies warned many Australian children were too little to learn in classrooms.
"There is considerable international research showing that children who start school when they are older tend to do better," said Associate Professor Kay Margetts, from Melbourne University's Graduate School of Education.
"But there is no evidence that suggests that starting school before the age of five is of any benefit to children."
States and territories control what age children must be before starting school and that age varies widely across Australia. In some states there can be a gap of 17 months, or a third of a kindergartener's life, between the youngest and oldest in a class.
In NSW children can start as young as four years and six months, but they must be in school by the age of six, while in Tasmania they need to have turned five before they enter their first year of primary, which is known across the country by various names including prep, kindergarten and reception. Prof Margetts said children should not be able to start school before turning five.
"It is well documented even with only a 12 month gap, those older children were doing better than the younger children," Prof Margetts said.
More than 120 leading educators in Britain this month launched a new "too much, too soon" campaign calling for formal schooling to be delayed until children turn six or seven because most four year olds are not ready to study in a structured environment.
The Australian Primary Principals Association said there should be a national uniform age for the foundation year of school.
"We believe all states should have some consistency in the starting age of students, and also the naming of that starting year, given that it's known by so many names like reception and kindy," said APPA deputy president Steve Portlock.
"It would certainly help for families who travel between states, but it would also mean that when test like NAPLAN are sat then students who were older and possibly more ready wouldn't have an advantage over younger students."
The Australian Parent's Council also argues for a standardised age and title for the foundation year, but executive director Ian Dalton said an enforced cut-off for those under five would not be appropriate.
"There is no doubt one of the main mistakes parents will make is to start their children at school too young, but that age varies from child to child," Mr Dalton said.
"You are probably better off to start them a little bit older because it can be difficult for a child when all through their schooling they are younger than their peers. But I don't know that there is any hard and fast rule that will suit all children - I think that parents are in the best position to know when to start their at school."
Prof Margetts said what age to start was one of the most vexing issues for parents of younger children, and a uniform age would make the decision easier.
"What we typically find is that the children starting younger in Australia are the children of parents who don't necessarily have a choice about it," she said.
"It's often people with financial difficulties because it's much cheaper to send a child to school than to keep them in preschool or early childhood services. It's also often children from immigrant families who don't realise the flexibility of the rules.
"We know that younger children in the class are at risk of falling behind and if they come from families who are having financial difficulties, then those children are doubly disadvantaged."
Some states have previously implemented a staggered start to the school year for later birthdays, but this practice is currently being wound-back in South Australia amid concern children with less formal schooling were being disadvantaged in standardised testing.
A spokesman for Education Minister Christopher Pyne said the Federal Government supported a move to a standard age for starting school but it was up to the states and territories to administer it.
Mr Pyne would not comment on whether children should be banned from starting formal schooling before they turn five.
"The Federal Coalition supports national uniformity of school starting ages where possible," he said through his spokesperson.
What age kids can be to start school and the different names of the foundation year:
New South Wales (5 by 31 July) Kindergarten
Victoria (5 by 30 April) Preparatory
Queensland (5 by 30 June) Preparatory
South Australia (5 by 30 April) Reception
Western Australia (5 by 30 June) Pre-Primary
Tasmania (5 by 1 January) Preparatory
Northern Territory (5 by 30 June) Transition
ACT (5 by 30 April) Kindergarten
(Source: Australian Primary Principals Association)
Starting age of compulsory education around the world:
* Proponents of a later start to school often cite the Scandinavian experience as proof waiting until six or seven is better for learning. Students in Finland, which regularly makes the top five in rankings such as the OECD's international Program for International Student Assessment (PISA), begin nine years of compulsory study at the age of seven.
* Fellow education "superpower'' South Korea's schooling system is far more structured than most western countries, but formal classes also don't begin until age seven.
* South American powerhouse Brazil does not have compulsory education until the age of seven, while Argentina starts at six.
* Many European countries, such as Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, France and Spain, also start at six, as does the United States and Canada.
* In England, which performs at or near the OECD average in reading (26th ranked) and maths (28th), children must be in formal schooling from the age of five.
* The PISA performance of Australia, where children can start school as young as four and half but must be enrolled by six, comes ninth in reading and 15th in maths. However, Australia's foundation (or kindy) curriculum doesn't have the same academic focus as the UK's first year.
* In Northern Ireland, children are obliged, according to the law, to start school at four.
