During the opening of the "Assises de la maternelle" held in Paris on March 26 and 27, the President of the French Republic, Emmanuel Macron, confirmed that school will become mandatory for children, at the age of three, for 2019.
The measure is aimed primarily at recognizing the place of the nursery school.
"The nursery school is and will be more considered as a part of our education," said the head of state."As such, I decided to make compulsory kindergarten and to lower the obligation of education from six to three years old in France in the autumn of 2019."
A symbolic measure to reduce inequalities
A symbolic measure, because today more than 96% of families in France educate their children before the age of six.
Mr. Macron said the change will help families in France's poorest regions and the overseas territories to send their children to school earlier, which will reduce inequalities in education.
As nursery school is not considered compulsory, there is a high rate of absenteeism in some areas; in Corsica, for example, the rate of children attending school before the age of six is 87%, compared with more than 93% in Paris, but less than 70% in Mayotte and Guyana.
According to the Elysee, "the decision to lower the age of compulsory education to three years reflects the will of the President of the French Republic to makeschool the place of real equality and recognition of the kindergarten, which should no longer be considered as a universal model of care or as a mere preparation for elementary school ".
"I hope that with this obligation, from the beginning of the 2019 school year, we will be able to [...] correct this unacceptable difference," Emmanuel Macron told a press conference on Tuesday.
Currently, in France, school is compulsory for all children aged six to 16 years old.
What about the other European countries ...
The compulsory age a child must attend school varies across Europe. Children in Northern Ireland can start school as young as four-years-old.
While children in nations such as Poland, Estonia and Serbia can start school as late as seven-years-old.
Estonia, Poland and Finland, which all have a compulsory age of seven-years-old, have performed better than other European nations in the OECD student performance in Mathematics, reading and science ratings.
Four: Northern Ireland
Five: Cyprus, England, Malta, Scotland, Wales,
Six: Austria, Belgium, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Republic of Ireland, Italy, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Switzerland, Turkey
Seven: Bulgaria, Estonia, Finland, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Serbia, Sweden
... And Australia
In Australia, children start in "preparation year" (kindergarten), but the names used vary by state. What was generally called "Playschool" or "Nursery School" in the UK, is called "preschool", "pre-primary" or "Kindy" in Australia.
The year of preparation is either voluntary or mandatory, depending on the state or territory. Children can start kindergarten at the beginning of the school year if they reach the age of 5 on July 31 of the same year. By law, all children must be in school before the age of six.
In Tasmania, the child must be five years old on the 1st of January of the year in which he starts school.
In the State of Victoria and the Australian Capital Territory (ACT), the child must be five years old by April 30 of the year in which he or she begins school.
In South Australia, the child must be five years old on May 1st of the year in which he begins school.
In Queensland, Northern Territory and Western Australia, the child must be five years old by June 30th of the year in which he begins school.
In New South Wales, the child must be five years of age as of July 31 of the year in which he begins school.
