Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1531843
5 NEWS maltatoday | SUNDAY • 26 JANUARY 2025 under-three-year-olds attend childcare age three can attend childcare centres, with most of these cen- tres being privately run. Out of 192 childcare centres, 187 par- ticipate in the free childcare scheme, which provides care for children from as young as three months, as long as their parents or guardians are employed or in education. Kindergartens, which are free for children in state and church- run institutions, accept children from two years and nine months until they begin compulsory pri- mary education at age five. In 2020, 18% of pre-primary chil- dren were enrolled in independ- ent private kindergartens. Maltese children the first to start primary school The report also revealed that while the starting age of compul- sory primary education is gen- erally around age six in Europe, children in Malta are the earliest starters, being required to begin compulsory primary education at five years old. In contrast, primary education starts at the age of seven in Bul- garia, Estonia, Croatia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Finland, and Sweden. The official starting age for compulsory primary educa- tion is usually set at 6 years in Europe. Malta fails in promoting nature appreciation The report also highlighted a gap in Maltese childcare: the lack of educational programmes aimed at fostering an appreci- ation of nature, a shortcoming also seen in Italy and parts of Belgium. In most countries, guidelines for ECEC encourage interaction with nature so that children de- velop an emotional relationship (joy, love, wonder) with it and feel the desire to protect it. For instance, in Austria, the guide- lines encourage "experimenta- tion and observation of animate and inanimate nature," which is considered of great importance for children's development as it supports the cultivation of a car- ing and mindful attitude towards the environment. In Denmark, "nature, outdoor life, and phenomena" is one of the six curriculum themes covered by pedagogical pro- grammes. This theme aims to "enable all children to experi- ence human connectedness with nature and provide them with an early-stage understanding of the importance of sustainable devel- opment." In the German-speaking part of Belgium, recommended ac- tivities for children include "sponsoring a tree, establishing and maintaining a school gar- den, planting a flower meadow for insect food, and taking care of a bird feeder in winter." The report also showed that Malta is one of seven European countries where the minimum qualification level required to work as a core practitioner in ECEC is below the bachelor's lev- el. In Malta, an education diplo- ma and successfully completing a one-year probationary period are required to work as a kindergar- ten or childcare educator.