Nearly 6,000 children younger than seven started to attend school in 2014. Of them, 22 were five, while over 5,700 were six. Specialists say the parents enroll their children at school earlier because they want to see them growing mature faster, but warn that this could have a negative effect on the child. Moreover, the parents must be preoccupied not with the age, but rather with the children’s preparedness for school.

In a response to an inquiry made by IPN, the Ministry of Education says school attendance becomes mandatory when the child turns seven. The enrolment at school of children who didn’t turn seven by the beginning of the school year is decided based on an application from parents, depending on the child’s psychosomatic maturity level confirmed by specialists, in the way established by the Ministry.

Contacted by IPN, psychologist Maria Varlan said the contemporary parents want to see their children turning older swiftly and thus take care less of the child’s childhood, which must include games, walking and trips. “It is yet not the parents’ blame that they want their children to grow mature faster. Their wish is determined by the system and conditions in which we live as they want a better future and a profession for their children and want to teach them to resist in a society based on competition, quality and efficiency,” she noted.

Maria Varlan noted that the too early going to school can have a negative impact on the child. There is a biological age that is appropriate for going to school. Voluntary processes develop by the age of seven. If they are absent, the children encounter difficulties in adjusting themselves because the school requires voluntary attention, voluntary memory, voluntary effort and obeying particular rules.
 
The psychologist explained that a child must be ready for school and have school maturity. The parents who have doubts can seek help from a psychologist, who will assess the child’s preparedness for school. “Regrettably, many parents consider that a child is ready for school if he/she knows to read and to write. Reading and writing are taught in the first grade and if the children know to read and write, they can become bored at lessons. Before going to school, the child must be taught to be independent, to take certain decisions individually, to communicate and to find one’s place in a group,” she stated.

According to the Ministry of Education, 27,890 children aged seven, 5,741 children aged six and 22 children aged five were enrolled in the first grade for the 2014-2015 school year.