Education Minister Jeffrey E. Lantz announced today the public consultation schedule for the provincial review of age of school entry for Grade 1 students.
"Research on early childhood development points to a link between the chronological age of a child and his or her readiness to meet the learning expectations of Grade 1," said Minister Lantz. "While certainly not the only, or even the best, predictor of success in learning, chronological age contributes to a child's likelihood of readiness for school-based learning."
Age of school entry is the minimum age a child must reach before being eligible to enter Grade 1. In PEI, a child who reaches his or her sixth birthday on or before January 31 in a given school year is eligible to enter Grade 1 in September of that school year.
Minister Lantz noted that Prince Edward Island has the latest cut-off date for school eligibility in the country, with the exception of several school districts in Alberta. Across Canada the average cut-off date for entry into the school system is December 31.
Department of Education staff have completed background research on age of school entry policies across North America. Recent research on how the brain works and develops, particularly with respect to early childhood development, has shed new light on age of entry policies and school readiness in young children. Through increased research in the area of early childhood development, evidence is mounting that suggests younger children may not be as developmentally ready as their chronologically older peers to learn in an instructional environment.
"With the introduction of provincially-funded kindergarten and the release of the provincial Healthy Child Development Strategy which recommended a review of our age of school entry policy, we feel it is time to revisit this issue," said Minister Lantz. "I encourage Islanders to consider attending one of five public consultations or preparing a written submission on the topic."
Public consultations will be held: Monday, May 6 at Three Oaks Senior High School, Tuesday, May 7 at Westisle Composite High School, Monday, May 13 at Colonel Gray Senior High School, Tuesday, May 14 at Morell Regional High School and a French consultation on Monday, May 27, École-Évangeline. All sessions begin at 7 p.m. and run for approximately one hour.
Copies of the department's background paper are available on the Department of Education Web site at http://www.gov.pe.ca/educ or at Island Information Service (368 4000).