Pros and cons: Postponement of school attendance in the Czech Republic | iRADIO

Nevertheless, Felcmanová admits in Pro a proti on Český rozhlas Plus that if the exception were aimed at children with special educational needs, she can also imagine the option of a blanket ban on postponement.

How to reduce the number of school attendance deferrals? Deputy Minister Jiří Nantl (ODS) and special pedagogue Lenka Felcmanová discuss

“Whether it concerns children with a medical disadvantage, in connection with their social disadvantage or cultural difference,” describes the teacher from the non-profit organization SOFA.

According to Nantl, the aim of the ministry is for the number of children who enter first grade at a different age than that expected by law to reach the European standard or slightly below it.

He reminds that one of the proposals is the possibility of legislatively limiting the reasons for which a postponement can be granted. At the same time, the competencies of the school and its management in assessing the needs of postponing school attendance would be strengthened.

“The motivation of the expert group to propose the transfer of competences to school principals with the use of certain criteria results from the finding, which is supported by data, that pedagogical-psychological counseling centers in real practice take the wishes of parents very seriously and at the same time bear no responsibility for using the capacities of the school system. The school principal is more interested in this, it is about the fulfillment of his school and at the same time the impact on the work of his teaching staff,” explains the Deputy Minister of Education.

Felcmanová points out that the biggest unbiased experts in assessing a child’s school maturity are kindergarten workers.

“They have the opportunity to observe the child for a long time, they actually carry out pedagogical diagnostics. We know very good practice from some regions, where pedagogical-psychological counseling centers have trained kindergarten teachers in diagnostics, and they are already sending children for the school maturity examination, for whom it is really relevant,” he suggests.

“We can imagine that the methodology of pedagogical diagnostics in kindergartens will be refined more precisely or better,” adds the special pedagogue.

The key is in the elementary schools

According to Nantl, the discussion at the societal level is mainly about why parents seek a postponement to such a large extent. It does not have to be determined only by the child’s maturity or readiness, but also by the parents’ concerns about what awaits the child at school.

The deputy reminds that the long-term plan for the education system approved by the government therefore, among other things, wants to eliminate classification in the first three years of elementary school.

“There are other steps that reflect what is common in a number of educational systems that we look to for inspiration. Especially since the first degree is not so fiercely competitive and not so performance-oriented. The child should develop gradually. In other words, the school should be prepared for the child, not the child for the school,” he states.

Felcmanová also agrees with this: “The key really lies in primary schools. The expectations we have towards school maturity are based on experiences from decades ago. Now children come into contact with other stimuli at preschool age, and we have to react to that.”

According to the special pedagogue, there is no need to hurry with the practice of reading, writing and counting. “Research shows that if there is a welcoming environment in the school, work is done on relationships from the beginning and children are provided with support, even partial initial deficits can be compensated,” he says.

““The fact that there will be no grades in the first three grades and expectations will be relaxed a little over time can help children experience success and parents stop being afraid of sending them to school on time,” he believes. Felcman.

Listen to the entire debate from the recording, the audio is at the beginning of the article. Hosted by Karolína Koubová.

Karolína Koubová, cbr

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