It has been well reported that the Island’s two senior secondary schools will not be graduating any students this year as the plans to add an extra year to education take effect.

This move has some merit, because it has been clear for some time that many, though not all, graduating students are not fully prepared either for work or for higher education.

Government and those concerned about education should consider doing something at the other end of education as well — making pre-school education mandatory and available for all children in the year of their fourth birthday.

This is not a new idea, and indeed, Premier Jennifer Smith has spent a good deal of time emphasising the importance of children’s early development.

At her behest, the Government has also begun reducing class sizes in primary schools, beginning with primary one, and, while the results of that move in terms of improved educational standing may take some time to become clear, it seems to make sense and deserves support, in spite of the added expense.

By the same token, ensuring that all children have access to pre-school education deserves support too.

Of course, many parents already avail themselves of pre-school education either through the Government pre-schools in every parish or through private nursery schools.

But many more children remain at home or in day care until they must attend primary school. If they entered primary school ready to learn, it would be better for them, for their parents and the whole community.

This point was made in a Boston Globe story on Sunday on a similar effort now underway in the US.

There, a group of businesses have urged the US Government to fund compulsory pre-school.

“There are plenty of highly placed executives in the top US corporations who understand that the economic condition of the country and the long-run prosperity and stability of their businesses will be strengthened if the trouble spots in our society can be eliminated.

“They know that it will be to their companies’ ultimate advantage if many more American children enter first grade ready to learn, and they know that today’s workers perform better and show up more reliably if they have access to good and dependable care for children,” the story said.

The same must be true for Bermuda.

If children learn and develop most quickly in their pre-school years, then getting them ready to learn is essential.

This does not mean that the community should be drilling three and four-year-olds in multiplication tables and preparing them for their Harvard entrance exams.

But helping children to love learning and helping them to learn appropriate behaviour in a school setting is vital.

This newspaper has traditionally carefully defended the interests of the taxpayer and will continue to do so.

But in this case, the cost of ensuring there is a pre-school place for every child in Bermuda is a worthy investment in the future.