The Honourable J. Chester Gillan, Minister of Education today announced the implementation schedule for changing Prince Edward Island's age of school entry cut-off date from January 31 to August 31. The new cut-off date for age of school entry was announced in the Speech from the Throne on November 14, 2002.
"I believe that every child will benefit from the changes in the age of school entry policy," said Minister Gillan. "The implementation schedule will help to ensure that all Prince Edward Island children are more prepared to succeed when they begin grade one. The staged implementation will also help to minimize the impact this change will have on families and on our school system."
The Department of Education has been looking at the issue of age of school entry for more than one year. During this time, numerous public consultations and private meetings have been hosted with stakeholder groups including school boards, the PEI Teachers' Federation, the Home and School Association, the Early Childhood Education Association, and the UPEI Faculty of Education.
"The general consensus from the consultations was that Prince Edward Island children are starting school at too young an age," added the Minister, "and that Island children would benefit from the age of school entry being raised to ensure that all children are six years old prior to beginning grade one."
The implementation schedule accounts for changes in both kindergarten and grade one. The implementation will be a gradual multi-year approach beginning in September 2003 when the entry cut-off date for publicly-funded kindergarten will roll back one month, to December 31 from the current January 31. The following year, the cut-off date will move back another month to November 30. The date will continue to roll back one month each year until the date of August 31 is reached in 2007.
The cut-off date for grade one entry will change in the same manner but on a one year delay behind the kindergarten entry cut-off date. In September 2004, the cut-off date for grade one will move to December 31 from the current January 31 and will continue to roll back each year by one month until the date of August 31 is reached in 2008.
The complete implementation schedule is attached, and is also available online at http://www.edu.pe.ca/publications/ageofentry.asp.
"The review of our age of school entry policy is in response to the implementation of provincially funded kindergarten and also came at the request of the Premier's Council on Healthy Child Development," said Minister Gillan. "Some of the benefits of changing the age of school entry will be more children will be ready to experience success in school, there will be smaller class sizes during the implementation phase which will follow students throughout grades one to twelve, and more in-school resources will be available to help children who really need them. It is our hope to continue to make positive changes that will see Island children benefit for years to come."