Why was August 31 chosen as the maximum limit for admission to Kindergarten?

The Minister of "Education" answers

Minister of Education, Hussain Al Hammadi

The Minister of Education, Hussain Ibrahim Al Hammadi, confirmed that determining the age requirements for admission to the kindergarten stage is based on several matters, the most important of which are the strategic direction of the state, global benchmarking, research and studies, and charters of international organizations such as UNESCO and OECD, explaining that after referring to A number of standard comparisons of a number of international countries on the subject of kindergarten entry age show that most countries recommend and set the entry age for kindergarten at five years at the beginning of enrollment at the beginning of the school year on August 31 and before September of each year.

The minister said, in a written response to a parliamentary question directed by a member of the council, Shatha Saeed Al-Naqbi, during the council’s sessions that were held this morning: “The date of August 31 was approved as a maximum for entering the kindergarten stage for several reasons, including the design of the curriculum in the early education stage that takes into account Taking into account the age of the student and his mental and physical abilities, and that the age of the student affects the level of educational performance, and because education in the Emirates includes the public and private sectors, it is in the interest of education and students that there be compatibility with international standards for the age of admission to kindergarten,” stressing that calculating the age of admission for students on August 31, has several positives, including achieving a better educational level for students, and an easier transition for students between schools outside and within the country, in addition to the fact that all British, Swiss and American schools apply their own systems to prevent students from entering kindergarten at an early age.

Council member Shatha Al-Naqbi commented on the minister’s response, saying: “I am satisfied with the written response from the minister, and I have some comments regarding it, the first of which is to inquire about the difference between the future buds stage and government and private nurseries, after the exception condition was granted for the future buds stage only? The optional condition for future buds has been transformed into obligatory by linking it to the entry condition and followed by financial obligations.

She added: "If the ministry conducts a questionnaire for the views of students' parents, on the decision to raise the student's age to register in kindergarten and first grade, it will not achieve support, because it deprives the child of an academic year (delaying him by a school year), which may obliterate skills unnoticed by the child in years. His first age, and he falls into the gap between the nursery school, which does not accept him because of his age, and the kindergarten because of the conditions. Likewise, the delay in entering the preparatory stage (kindergarten stage for a year, causes psychological and social consequences, and an age difference between students, and deprives the state of young talents). In various fields, on the pretext that they have not finished their education, in addition to the fact that delaying the student’s enrollment in school by a year delays him from starting a working or married life.”

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