ONE in seven children are unable to write their own name or recite the alphabet by the age of five, according to figures from the UK Department for Children, Schools and Families, the Guardian has reported.
Under the Government assessment-system, teachers observe five year olds by the end of their reception year at primary school and record their progress. Pupils must score six points out of nine in seven of the tests to achieve a “good level of development”. This year’s results, for 535,000 children, will pile pressure on ministers following research from Durham University, UK, which found massive state investment in nurseries and childcare, had failed to improve children’s ability to learn.
The results concluded that 35 percent failed to recognize simple words such as “dog” or “pen”, 15 percent could not scribble “mum” or “dad” or their own name, even 12 percent could not count to ten.
Meanwhile, fewer five year olds than previously thought were judged to be high achieving. According to the figures, 54 percent were judged by their teachers not to have reached a “good level of development”. Only 46 percent showed they were able to take turns in conversation, guess at the meaning of simple sentences, write a letter to Father Christmas, blend sounds to say simple words, be attentive in class and know the importance of school rules and respect for others.
Though there has been 21 billion pounds invested on early years’ education since 1997, there has been little evidence of improvement thus far in children’s language or emotional and literacy development in schools across England. More than half of children still fall short of Government targets for development at the age of five.
The assessments also revealed that children in the poorest areas fell behind students in more affluent areas in communication and social skills. David Laws, the Liberal Democrat schools’ spokesman, said the figures were deeply disturbing. “By the end of their first year at school, all children should have the basic skills, which up to half of them presently lack,” he said. “There is a yawning gulf between children from deprived backgrounds and the rest, which undermines education from the very earliest stages.”
Tory families spokesman Maria Miller said the figures were further evidence that the flagship Sure Start scheme, a Uk government program to deliver the best start in life for every child, was “not doing enough to help the children that are most in need”.
Children’s minister Beverley Hughes said more needed to be done to fix the problem. “I welcome the fact that the achievement of disadvantaged children has risen in step with other children, but I do not believe we should be satisfied with this,” she said.
