Within just two weeks of opening registrations for the 2027 Enrollment at Age Six initiative for Primary 1 (for children aged “five-plus” and turning six within the calendar year), the Ministry of Education (MOE) has received nearly 50,000 applications.
Whether the motivation is to see their child graduate a year earlier, or simply to “save a year of expenses”, I hope parents will consider the perspectives offered by developmental psychology experts based on empirical research data.
In fact, the field of child developmental psychology has long confirmed that children who start school later would benefit from a longer period of play-based, informal preschool education.
This helps promote language development as well as cognitive and emotional “self-regulation” skills (For details, see the 2015 Stanford Center for Education Policy Analysis Working Paper No. 15-08; 8 ).
This also explains why, over the past 50 years, there has been a growing trend across the United States to legislate an “increase in kindergarten entry age” (requiring children to turn five by September or earlier).
The number of states adopting this standard has risen steadily, from nine states in 1975, to 28 in 1990, and 36 in 2010. Today, that number has reached 43.
The goal of these legislative shifts is to delay the age at which children begin formal schooling (kindergarten and subsequent Grade 1). Behind these legal changes lies a series of considerations, primarily the belief that older children are better prepared for future success.
A report from Canada released in April 2023 indicates that children who enter school at a younger age are 35% more likely to be diagnosed with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), a metric that shows a “strong negative correlation” with academic achievement, when compared to their older classmates.
By analysing medical data from nearly 800,000 adolescents (born between 1996 and 2005) provided by the Régie de l’assurance maladie du Québec (RAMQ), the researchers found that students born in September, who are the youngest in their cohort due to Quebec’s September 30 cutoff, were 35 per cent more likely to be diagnosed with ADHD and prescribed medication than those born in October (the relatively older students in the same grade).
Furthermore, a May 2020 report by the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) revealed that across a vast dataset spanning 45 countries, the youngest students in a cohort not only scored lower on PISA tests but also faced a significantly higher risk of grade repetition and learning difficulties.
Similarly, Stanford University researchers matched and analysed mental health survey data for children aged 7 and 11 with demographic data from Denmark’s administrative registry and the Ministry of Education, and revealed that delaying school entry by one year reduced inattentiveness and hyperactivity in 7-year-olds by 73 per cent.
Consistent results were also found in a German study involving data from 1,633 children. Furthermore, data analyses from countries such as Brazil, Mexico, and Vietnam indicate that “starting school too early” not only affects academic performance but may also jeopardize health.
Children who enrol earlier face a higher risk of being diagnosed with ADHD, as well as an increased likelihood of precocious sexual behaviour, teenage pregnancy and early marriage.
Although some studies have found that the “school entry age effect” does not necessarily result in negative outcomes, the vast majority of international research indicates that delaying a child’s compulsory enrolment age — whether for kindergarten or Primary 1 — by one year is not only beneficial for their academic learning process, but is also a highly advantageous strategy for their mental health and developmental growth.
In other words, the risk of exacerbated mental health issues due to “early enrolment” is not an isolated or localized phenomenon, but a global systemic issue.
Now that the government has decided to abolish the pre-enrolment assessment for the Age 6 entry into Primary 1, we must, of course, respect parents’ choices.
However, at the same time, the government has a responsibility to issue a clear warning to parents: if their child has not yet reached the required level of mental and emotional maturity, choosing to delay enrolment by one year is the more appropriate arrangement.
After all, every child has their own pace of growth. Some children truly need more time to reach the level of maturity necessary to adapt to primary school life.
- This is the personal opinion of the writer or publication and does not necessarily represent the views of CodeBlue.
