THE EFFECTS OF THE LOWERED COMPULSORY SCHOOL ENTRY AGE ON THE CURRICULUM

Abstract

The question at what age a child should start compulsory education raises debates both in the scientific and public interest contexts. This topic is also relevant all over the world, but a uniform answer is still not found, so the problem of the research emerges - the disclosure of the prerequisites for the change of the educational content during early primary education. The article raises questions related to the possibilities and assumptions of early school entry age for children and the structuring of educational content. 12 education experts and 6 preschool and primary education pedagogues participated in the study. Qualitative research methodology was chosen for this study: semi-structured interview and group discussion methods. During the research, 4 main topics were distinguished. They are as follows: relevance of lowering the school entry age of children; changes in the educational content when the educational age is advanced; characteristics of age change; change processes taking place in the education system. The research findings state that in order to lower the compulsory school age and achieve quality education, it is necessary to reform the educational content: educational programs must be reviewed, reasoned and changed, educational methods and tools must be selectedin a more detailed way, new educational environments created and developed, the evaluation system has to be changed, and teachers must be properly trained to work with younger children.