The Centre for Community Child Health’s Dr Sharon Goldfeld says “Schools are wilting under the burden of trying to help almost 47,000 children starting prep with behavioural and other developmental problems.”

In an article in The Age, Dr Goldfeld, who is the national director of the Australian Early Development Index (AEDI), says Australia’s school system is unable to cope with the 18 per cent of children starting school who have been identified by classroom teachers as having a serious problem that interferes with their learning.

Read more in The Age (Monday 7 May 2012) – Schools stagger under young burden