Much ado about nothing much?

OPINION: Does it really matter if a child starts school eight weeks before their fifth birthday or is this just a whole lot of hoo-ha over nothing?

Labour and National are in a war over whether a child should be allowed to start school up to eight weeks before their fifth birthday or not.

The previous government made changes so children could, and the current Government is now promising to reverse that.

The law states children do not legally have to be enrolled at school until they’re 6 - in other words parents can send their child to school at any point between their fifth and sixth birthdays.

The previous government decided to throw a bone to parents who were frustrated little Jimmy or Jane turned 5 just after the school term had started but had to wait until the next school term to send them on their way.

On that basis, it passed legislation earlier this year that allowed optional cohort entry so that schools who wanted to (no doubt after consulting with their school community) could let children start the school term before their fifth birthday.

That meant little Jimmy or Jane could head off for their first day at school as early as 4 years and 10 months old.

But if parents don’t think little Jimmy or Jane is ready for school at that point they can start them at a later date - just as long as they’re enrolled by the time they’re 6.

Labour was never a fan of 4-yearolds being at school and now Education Minister Chris Hipkins has announced it’ll reverse that legislation so that children can only head to school from as early as 5.

Research shows educational outcomes are better for children when they head to school later that’s why a number of countries have an older starting age and have great results to go with it.

The question is whether eight weeks is really make or break?

There’s plenty of evidence showing children who are behind when they first start school have generally caught up to their peers by about age 7 anyway.

The kids who might benefit from that extra stimulation earlier - the ones who know the alphabet, numbers and colours when they’re still in nappies - are probably the only ones who are going to miss out as they no longer have the option of going to school that little bit earlier.

There’s also parents who think in monetary terms and quite like the idea of saving a couple of months worth of daycare costs when both mum and dad are already having to work to make ends meet.

It’s a whole lot of legislation and paperwork to change something that in reality isn’t that big a deal and will likely only impact the smart children who can’t go to school that little bit earlier.

A child struggling with the basics isn’t going to be sent off to school when they’re 4 regardless of what the policy is.

Why would they when they don’t legally have to be there until they’re

6?

This all seems a bit over the top for the sake of eight weeks.