19:48
Tieng Anh Vui
Children should not start formal school lessons until the age of six or seven, a group of educationalists has said.
In a letter to the Daily Telegraph, they said early schooling was causing "profound damage" to children.
The experts, including academics and teachers, said there should be more emphasis in the curriculum on learning through play.
A spokesman for Education Secretary Michael Gove said the authors of the letter were "misguided".
'Look to Finland'
The signatories, also including writers and charities, said the current system focused too much on formal education, such as the "three Rs", at too early an age.
They said national policies should be reassessed to make them more similar to education systems in Scandinavia.
The letter said children who entered school at six or seven "consistently achieve better educational results as well as higher levels of wellbeing".
It was signed by 127 experts including Lord Layard, director of the Well-Being Programme at the London School of Economics; senior lecturer in psychology of education at Cambridge University Dr David Whitebread, and director of Play England Catherine Prisk.
Another of the experts, former Children's Commissioner for England Sir Al Aynsley-Green, said: "If you look at a country like Finland children don't start formal, full-scale education until they are seven.
"These extra few years, in my view, provide a crucial opportunity, when supported by well-trained, well-paid and highly educated staff, for children to be children."
The letter was sent by campaign group the Save Childhood Movement, which will call for changes when it launches its Too Much, Too Soon campaign on Thursday.
Group founding director Wendy Ellyatt said: "Despite the fact that 90% of countries in the world prioritise social and emotional learning and start formal schooling at six or seven, in England we seem grimly determined to cling on to the erroneous belief that starting sooner means better results later.
"There is nothing wrong with seeking high educational standards and accountability, but there is surely something very wrong indeed if this comes at the cost of natural development."
Currently most children in England go to nursery or reception classes at the age of three or four before starting school at five years old.
'Misguided lobby'
Earlier this week, Northern Ireland Education Minister John O'Dowd indicated he was willing to introduce new rules to allow flexibility on the school starting age.
Researchers said Northern Ireland had the lowest statutory school entry age in Europe, at four.
The spokesman for Mr Gove told the Telegraph: "These people represent the powerful and badly misguided lobby who are responsible for the devaluation of exams and the culture of low expectations in state schools.
"We need a system that aims to prepare pupils to solve hard problems in calculus or be a poet or engineer - a system freed from the grip of those who bleat bogus pop-psychology about 'self image', which is an excuse for not teaching poor children how to add up."
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