Pre-School Education Of Today’s Children

My wife and I are taking care of our four-year old only grandchild (apo) and part of the responsibility is her early schooling.  At her early age now, she would be on her second year of pre-school this coming June. Pre-school education is intended for a child under the age at which compulsory education begins. There is no specified age when a child should have pre-school education but many of today’s children enroll in nursery schools as early as the age of three.

In the Philippines, compulsory education used to be for seven-year old children but beginning this school year (2011-12), the formal elementary education will begin at six (6) years of age. During my time, we start going to school after reaching the age of seven and except for the non-formal teaching by some parents, most of us enter Grade One without knowing anything. The same is still true for the majority of today’s children entering our public elementary schools for the first time.

The lucky children of families who can afford to pay for their pre-school education would have  2 to 3 years of learning reading, writing and mathematics before getting their formal elementary education in private schools. Their undue advantage over those who study in the public school system is prevalent in third-world countries. Except for a few exceptions, statistics show that only a small percentage of children who did not get pre-school education get to finish their college education. It’s unfair but that’s how life goes for today’s child in a poor country like ours.

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