Government unlikely to raise school entry age

THE age at which children can start school is highly unlikely to be raised as part of government efforts to cut the cost of running the country’s schools.

While the Department of Education would not confirm any measures currently under consideration for next year’s budget, the Irish Examiner understands that the proposal which had been on the table during the lifetime of the last government is no longer being considered. It emerged yesterday that department officials had last year drawn up detailed figures on the potential savings achieved from raising the age of entry to primary education up to five.

Legally, children must be given an appropriate education between the ages of six and 16, but schools are entitled to set their own polices on whether to enrol children at an earlier age, and around 40% of junior infants are aged four. As well as reducing teacher numbers, raising the entry age could soften the cost of education of a rising young population by also delaying additional building requirements and increases in day-to-day spending for schools.

A Department of Education statement yesterday said that a report of its considerations on raising the school-going age was based on options put forward as part of the budget estimates process under the Fianna Fáil/Green Party government and is not based on current proposals by the department as part of the comprehensive spending review being undertaken by every Government minister’s officials.

However, a spokesperson would not comment on whether any measures are in those proposals or not, except to say no decision has been taken in relation to changing the school-going age or abolishing the transition year option at second level, another measure known to have been put forward for discussion during the FF-Green coalition’s term.

The Irish National Teachers’ Organisation (INTO) said any suggestion of raising the school-going age would be educational madness, as it would contradict everything that is known about early childhood learning, as well as heaping financial pain on struggling households.

“For many families, childcare costs are on a par with mortgage repayments. Expecting hard-pressed families to come up with another year of childcare is not possible,” said INTO general secretary Sheila Nunan.

Fianna Fáil education spokesman Brendan Smith said the previous government, in which he was a Cabinet minister, had rejected the idea and urged the Fine Gael-Labour government not to implement it. “Raising the school starting age without providing equal access to pre-school education in all parts of the country would be an short-sighted measure that could have a serious impact on early childhood development and on the financial situation of many families.”