SEND KIDS TO SCHOOL AT SEVEN

Lib Dems and Greens back SNP MSP's proposal to follow the Scandinavians

- VIVIENNE AITKEN

A PLAN for children to start school at the age of seven has been put forward by an SNP MSP who hopes to attract cross-party support for the idea.

The radical proposal, by Glasgow Kelvin MSP Kaukab Stewart, calls for a "national conversation on early years education" and argues a later starting age could help to tackle Scotland's attainment gap.

The move, understood to have widespread support among SNP MSPs, is to be debated at Holyrood - but it would need Scottish Government support to have any chance of succeeding.

The proposal, calling for the formal school starting age to be raised from the current five, is expected to attract widespread political backing.