this post was submitted on 19 Sep 2024
74 points (95.1% liked)

World News

38554 readers
2598 users here now

A community for discussing events around the World

Rules:

We ask that the users report any comment or post that violate the rules, to use critical thinking when reading, posting or commenting. Users that post off-topic spam, advocate violence, have multiple comments or posts removed, weaponize reports or violate the code of conduct will be banned.

All posts and comments will be reviewed on a case-by-case basis. This means that some content that violates the rules may be allowed, while other content that does not violate the rules may be removed. The moderators retain the right to remove any content and ban users.


Lemmy World Partners

News !news@lemmy.world

Politics !politics@lemmy.world

World Politics !globalpolitics@lemmy.world


Recommendations

For Firefox users, there is media bias / propaganda / fact check plugin.

https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/media-bias-fact-check/

founded 1 year ago
MODERATORS
 

Compulsory preschool year for six-year-olds to be replaced with extra year in primary school from 2028

Children in Sweden are to start school at six years old from 2028, a year earlier than at present, in an overhaul of the country's education system that signals a switch from play-based teaching for younger children.

The government has announced plans to replace a compulsory preschool year for six-year-olds known as förskoleklass with an additional year in grundskola (primary school).

The centre-right coalition government, led by the Moderates and backed by the far-right Sweden Democrats, announced the plan before the presentation of the 2025 budget, due on Thursday. The plan dates back to the previous government and is also backed by the left-leaning Social Democrats.

top 21 comments
sorted by: hot top controversial new old
[–] deegeese@sopuli.xyz 6 points 6 hours ago

Sounds like they’re introducing kindergarten in place of extra long preschool.

Five/six is the right age to start learning to follow a teacher’s lesson.

[–] PugJesus@lemmy.world 30 points 9 hours ago (4 children)

Kids didn't start preschool until 6?

That's, uh, interesting.

How and whether preschool exists differs from country to country.

For example, here in Germany you go straight from kindergarten to primary school.

[–] Makka@lemmy.one 14 points 9 hours ago

No they start preschool from 1yr old if the parents want, but it is compulsory to enroll at 6. The year for six year olds is also a bit different from the first years with more focus on familiarising with school routines and learning - but still lots of play

[–] JoMiran@lemmy.ml 5 points 8 hours ago* (last edited 8 hours ago) (1 children)

Six years old seems late. I started first grade as a four year old and all my other classmates but one were five. I remember first grade because things went from mostly play, naps, and some schooling to nothing but schooling, homework and tutoring.

[–] acosmichippo@lemmy.world 5 points 8 hours ago (1 children)

where do you live? homework at age 4?

[–] JoMiran@lemmy.ml 1 points 8 hours ago* (last edited 8 hours ago)

I'll never forget it. It was a workbook to practice writing letters and numbers. I'm sure it was only a single page but it felt like an entire book.

To answer your question, I went to a British run private school. Think of it as a stereotypical British prep school, down to the uniform, but not in the UK. Also, they jumped me a year because in pre-school I was always sneaking into classes rather than napping or playing.

[–] jlh@lemmy.jlh.name 6 points 9 hours ago

Förskola/daycare before 6 is not compulsory

https://sv.wikipedia.org/wiki/F%C3%B6rskoleklass

[–] Fixbeat@lemmy.ml 6 points 10 hours ago (4 children)

Put them kids to work! Can’t have anyone enjoying life.

[–] dEVbiKub@feddit.nu 4 points 8 hours ago* (last edited 8 hours ago) (1 children)

I disagree, kids should not work as they have no sense for quality.

[–] Fixbeat@lemmy.ml 3 points 5 hours ago

Kiddos just need a little Kaizen training. Maybe they should start school two years early.

[–] bstix@feddit.dk 4 points 9 hours ago

I used to think the same, but kids are really much further ahead these days.

There's a lot of variety of course. Even my two kids are totally different. The older one knew the entire alphabet and basic math before kindergarten (<4yo), while the second one was still catching up on that in 2.grade (8yo here). Their gross motor skills are opposite though, and the oldest might never catch up on that.

So, play is learning in one way or the other, but there's no reason to hold back the children who are talented in one thing over the other. My oldest is being held back that way by the current curriculum. Starting school earlier might be a way of addressing this.

It's really just a matter of task assignment between institutions. Anything pre-school (nursery and kindergarten) is focused on behaviour and play, while early school (gradually) introduces more abstract learning, which requires a different teaching by teachers with a different education. Strictly speaking, it's a teachers problem, and there's currently not much overlap, except for "backwards compatibility", because schools do have employees who are educated in kindergarten levels, whereas kindergartens do not have school level teachers employed. By introducing school earlier, it is possible to widen this overlap while still allowing for kids to proceed in their own pace.

So, IMO, it makes sense, but yeah, it'd be dreadful to go to "school" for that many years. Coincidentally, kids also leave schools earlier. There's no longer many kids in 10th grade, because almost everyone goes on to the following studies after 9th these days. (which is a completely different discussion..)

I hope this makes sense. British/American school system are wildly different, but at the end of it, the kids will be kids, no matter what box they fit into.

[–] Stovetop@lemmy.world 2 points 8 hours ago

My gut had me wanting to say the same thing, but looking at the age ranges, this actually seems reasonable and in line with how many other countries operate. By 6 years old, students in the US are in first grade, for example. Kindergarten a year or two prior as well, which is also compulsory in some states.

[–] MediaBiasFactChecker@lemmy.world -1 points 10 hours ago

The Guardian - News Source Context (Click to view Full Report)Information for The Guardian:

MBFC: Left-Center - Credibility: Medium - Factual Reporting: Mixed - United Kingdom
Wikipedia about this source

Search topics on Ground.Newshttps://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/sep/19/swedish-children-to-start-school-a-year-earlier-six
Media Bias Fact Check | bot support