A COMPREHENSIVE study on making early education compulsory for children aged between three and six is underway by the government.
The Cabinet told Parliament in writing that the results of the study would be presented to newly-elected MPs following the national elections later this year.
However, the government urged MPs to rethink their proposed amendments to the 2005 Education Law, which would force schools to accept students who don’t complete six years of age until the end of December rather than before September 1, when the new academic year starts.
The Education Ministry currently accepts pupils who have completed six years of age by August 31, and depending on the availability children born between September 1 and December 31 could be offered seats.
However, private schools are allowed to accept students completing six years of age by December 31.
“We are working on a comprehensive study to make early education compulsory for children aged between three and six,” said the Cabinet.
“The new preschool rule would allow us to identify the ages of students in nursery and kindergarten and those eligible for school, with both having their own distinctive set of requirements, giving students a swifter shift from one to another,” it added.
“Professional educational studies we have conducted on children who have not completed six years of age entering into grade one have shown that they are not interested in learning through books and want to learn through edutainment methods like in kindergarten.
“The same studies have also shown that students below the age of six going to school suffer from psychological and physical problems like not having full control of their hand muscles when writing, being unable to sit for long hours, and flagging attentiveness.”
The government added that the current rule for accepting pupils should remain the same, with the minister having the power to rule in exceptional cases.
“The acceptance age for pupils into grade one is subject to continuous review despite stated issues related to age, but there are exceptions that could be allowed into school pending assessment and testing,” it explained.
“Allowing the minister the power to determine acceptance into school is much flexible than forcing it through rule.
“Children who were not accepted into grade one in the year they complete six would be allowed to sit for exams to get them into grade two the following year, while repeating the same kindergarten class twice.”
mohammed@gdnmedia.bh
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