Abstract:

Preschool education (ISCED 0) represents a significant part of lifelong learning. Since September 2017, compulsory preschool education has been enacted in order to ensure high-quality preparation of children for school attendance and to eliminate initial problems. This measure is also a response to the current high proportion of postponement of compulsory education (approximately 15%). To start compulsory education, children need to comply with the following basic criteria: age (at least six years of age), and physical, mental and social readiness. Research studies and reports of the Czech School Inspectorate suggest that frequent problems in the area of readiness include social immaturity of children. For several years, a team of researchers from the Faculty of Education, Palacký University in Olomouc has dealt with the issue of children’s school readiness for starting compulsory education. During 2009-2013 an international research study was carried out (Czech Republic, Slovakia, Slovenia, Poland), which focused on children’s readiness in the area of cognitive maturity. This research is now followed by a study of social skills in the context of readiness for enrolment in school. The aim of the present paper is to inform the professional community about the system of preparing children for compulsory education in compliance with the preschool curriculum and about the results that point to some problems in the area of social readiness and that may become risk factors and barriers to successful start of children in compulsory elementary education. The research was conducted from 2016 to 2017 and was of a mixed design. The research instruments were questionnaires, interviews and document analyses. The respondents were kindergarten teachers and parents. The study also involved academic staff and students of the doctoral degree programme of Education. The research was supported by an internal grant of the Faculty of Education, Palacký University in Olomouc.

Keywords:

Compulsory education, curricular reform, educational diagnostics pupil, school curriculum, school maturity, school readiness, social skills.