我國小學入學年齡截止日不再一刀切

The Ministry of Education have cancelled a deadline for determining children's ages when applying for primary school entrance.

教育部近日取消了在申請小學入學時決定兒童年齡的截止日期限制。

The move has now given provincial authorities the flexibility to decide the date to determine children's ages for primary school entrance.

此舉現已授權省級教育部門自行決定小學入學年齡截止日期。

September 1 was set as the first day of a school year in 1992.

1992年，9月1日被定爲新學年開學日。

The Law on Compulsory Education stipulated that all children who are six years old before August 31 should go to primary school on September 1 of the year.

《義務教育法》規定，8月31日前年滿6週歲的所有兒童應在當年9月1日入讀小學。

Many insiders believe the cancellation of the Aug 31 deadline will not matter a lot since the age to receive compulsory education has remained the same.

不少業內人士認爲，取消8月31日截止日期限制的影響不會很大，因爲接受義務教育的年齡並未改變。

Xiong Bingqi, deputy dean at the 21st Century Education Research Institute, suggested the introduction of a flexible age for primary school entrance, as children in other countries can start school between the ages of five and seven based on their intelligence and family situations.

21世紀教育研究院副院長熊丙奇建議引入小學入學年齡彈性制，因爲其他國家的兒童可根據智力和家庭情況在5到7歲之間入學。