The age of starting school has also been added to the discussions about the education system. The one who ignited the discussion was Child and Adolescent Psychiatrist Prof. Dr. He became Veysi Çeri. Referring to the results of the latest and comprehensive educational research conducted in Denmark, Prof. Dr. Çeri shared on her social media account; “In a study in Denmark where all children were reviewed, it was seen that starting primary school before the age of 7 caused serious psychological and emotional handicaps and that this negative effect lasted a lifetime. In our country, it is not possible not to send a child to school after the age of 6. The compulsory age should be raised to 7 years old without delay.” he said.
THEIR DEVELOPMENT HAS SLOWED DOWN
”Prof made a statement to Haberglobal.com.tr. Dr. Çeri said, “In our country, it is not possible not to send a child to school after the age of 6. The compulsory age should be raised to 7 years old without wasting time.” Adding that children’s social, emotional, cognitive and psychological developments are different from each other, Prof. Dr. Cheri, “We need to distinguish between nursery education, which we call pre-school education, and primary school education. As a matter of fact, research points to the benefit of starting pre-school education early. “However, I think emotional development is gradually slowing down today,” he said.
IT IS REDUCED TO A SINGLE PATTERN
Adding that he can list 10 different reasons why it is not appropriate to start school before the age of 7, Prof. Dr. Çeri said, “Many factors, from the starting time of classes to the obligation to sit at the desk all day, from a heavy curriculum that ignores individual differences to very short breaks, are the difficulties that young children must deal with emotionally and socially during the primary school period. However, we need to know that each child’s development is different, such as social, emotional, neuromotor and intellectual, and we need to act accordingly.” he said.

WHAT DO EXPERTS SAY?
“MUST BE 7 YEARS OLD”
Hülya Bingöl Çağlayan (Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Specialist)
“We expect children to learn to read and write in a period when abstract concepts have not yet developed. Anxiety about academic success is placed on the little ones during the play period. Starting school early is not suitable for spiritual development. Another problem is that there are no certain standards in pre-school preparatory classes. For this reason Many children have difficulty adapting to school. Moreover, most children start primary school without going to kindergarten anyway. This situation causes the child to be unprepared and not to achieve the discipline and academic success expected at school. “The school starting age should definitely be raised to 7.”
“6 YEARS OLD IS NOT AN EXCESS”
Assoc. Dr. Yusuf Kızıltaş (Van Yüzüncü Yıl University Faculty of Education Lecturer)
“The focus should be on flexibility rather than the age at which children start school. In many countries, the starting age for primary school is 6. It is not a handicap or an exaggeration for children who have gone through a good and effective pre-school education process to start primary school at the age of 6. What really matters preschool education.”
PRESCHOOL IS VERY IMPORTANT
Turgay Polat (Education Analyst)
“School education is actually a process that starts from the age of 3, which we call early childhood. Therefore, the age of starting primary school begins with the formation of the muscles that we call fine motor behavior. Scientists have very different approaches. However, we know that the age of 6 is sufficient for the development of fine motor and finger muscles. “There should be more early childhood and pre-school education than what age children start school.”
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