Does age matter?

WHEN I entered schooling at the age of seven, I felt old. Most of my classmates were six-years old and they were schooled in kindergarten, I was not. But even though I did not attend kindergarten, I already know how to read, write and do arithmetic, thanks to my mom and my siblings. Those who know how to read and write were given the task to tutor our classmates during reading time, I felt proud of myself. I know some mothers who enroll their kids as early as two years old, some as late as seven. Age has played a considerable part about education, like entry age of students to a school, hence age could be a predictor of success according to Abubakar and Oguguo (2011). Does age really affect students’ performance?

The Omnibus Policy on Kindergarten Education or the Department Order #20 Series of 2018 states that students who completed Kindergarten at age 5 will be accepted in Grade 1, this is to ensure that “Kindergarten learners are holistically prepared to face the expectations of the grade level” as stated by Education Secretary Leonor Briones quoted from Castillo (2018). Studies also reveal that older students entering school tend to have a better performance in academic settings because of their experiences and maturity, according to Navarro (2015). It was also further discussed that teachers have lower expectations to students who are younger due to their lower degree of maturity. Moreover, learning opportunities are lost to younger students because teachers discuss at the average level of the class. This is however true to elementary students but differs significantly in high school. Some evidence shows that younger students, upon entering high school, were more likely to concentrate in academic studies, and less likely to experience minor distractions, thereby compensating for their poor academic performance in the lower grades (Nam, 2014). White’s study as cited by Jabor (2011) suggests that as students become older, the correlation between age and school achievement diminishes. White (1982) further discussed that schools provide equalizing experiences, and thus the longer students stay in the schooling process, the more the impact of age on student achievement is diminished.

I have observed when I was in high school that my older classmates were more likely to drop out of school, their main rea- son was self-consciousness and their desire to be independent and possess their own income. This observation is true when I started teaching and had old students. Most of them do not finish the school year. However, this is also true to some younger students. Although many researchers analyzed age and its significance in schooling, other researches have consistently indicated other factors as variables that lead students to dropping out of school such as: Parental engagement, family economic needs, and students’ performance. Therefore, going back to the question, does age really matter?