Children legally have to start education by the time they’re 6.
Fewer children are starting school at the age of 4.
According to the Department of Education, parents are waiting until their children turn 5 to send them to ‘big school’.
New figures released by the Department of Education confirmed that only around 17% of Junior Infant pupils are aged 4.
47% of Junior Infants were aged 4 in 2002.
Between 2021 and 2022 there were 63,583 children enrolled in Junior Infants. Only 10,483 were aged 4.
In 2001 and 2002, there were 55,236 Junior Infant pupils. 25,662 were aged 4.
Most parents are waiting until their children turn 5 because of the universal free pre-school scheme.
The Early Childhood Care and Education Scheme provides early childhood care and education for children under the age of 6.
The ECCE scheme was first introduced in 2010.
Children can start ECCE when they are 2 years and 8 months of age and continue until they transfer to primary, once they are not older than 5 years and 6 months at the end of the pre-school year.
In 2018, the programme was increased to two years, which caused the number of primary school children who started at the age of 4 to drop.
Children can legally start school at the age of 4 in Ireland, but they must start formal education by the time they’re six years old.
How old was your child when they started formal education?
