A prominent SNP MSP has called for the school starting age to be raised and a universal kindergarten stage to be introduced across Scotland, The Herald can exclusively reveal.
A motion filed by Glasgow Kelvin MSP Kaukab Stewart calls for a “national conversation on early years education” and argues that a new approach could help to tackle Scotland’s long-standing educational attainment gap.
Ms Stewart, who was a teacher for nearly thirty years before entering parliament in 2021, told The Herald that Scotland needs a “healthy, open debate” about improving early learning in the country, and that there is interest in the matter “across political divides”.
The motion, which has now been circulated to other MSPs, states that the existing school starting age makes Scotland an “outlier in Europe” – at present, children here can start school as young as four and must do so by the age of five. It goes on to point out that “the UN defines early childhood as birth to eight years old” and suggests that the establishment of a kindergarten system could “contribute to closing the attainment gap” by helping to provide “a true level playing field for all of Scotland’s children.”
Closing the attainment gap has been a key SNP goal since 2017, but data shows that they have fallen short on a promise to do so. Ms Stewart’s motion paints reforms to early learning, including a universal kindergarten system, as the missing piece of the puzzle.
She refers to “the body of international evidence on the benefits of play-based early years education”, arguing that it helps to develop “physical fitness, social skills, cognitive capacities and personal qualities” in young children.
