One in five pre-schoolers between the ages of 2,5 and 4 are not toilet-trained at the start of the school year, to the great dismay of nursery teachers.
The number of young children that have not been taught to use the toilet by the time they start attending pre-school has increased by 13% over the past 10 years. In every class of 20 children aged 2,5 years old, at least seven of them are not potty trained, 17% more than ten years ago, according to Flemish Minister of Education Ben Weyts.
"Parents have to start early enough with the toilet training process," he said. "That is also a question of respect for our kindergarten teachers and leaders."
According to 70% of nursery school teachers, this leads to a (very) large increase in workload and less attention for the children who are already potty trained. Schools that have a tolerant policy and allow nappies for a longer period, see more non-sedentary infants entering the system.
Increasing number to improve education
Moreover, teachers have estimated that more than half of these children could already have been potty trained if parents had tried to go through this process sooner.
"I fully understand that toilet training is not feasible for every young toddler, even if parents make great efforts. But the strong increase in the last 10 years and the regional differences show that not being toilet trained is not a fate: it is indeed possible for more pre-schoolers to become toilet trained sooner," Weyts said.
He is now working with three parent umbrella associations to raise awareness about the importance of timely toilet training to increase the number of sedentary pre-schoolers, in turn raising the quality of the profession of nursery staff and the level of education they can provide.
"The less time kindergarten teachers have to invest in changing nappies and cleaning up 'accidents', the more time they have to learn and discover things through play," a Weyts statement read.
Parents' responsibility
Earlier potty training also has other benefits, such as less chance of infections and stool problems, less waste, fewer costs for nappies and also: less "s**t" for teachers and kindergarten teachers.
According to toilet-training experts, parents can start the toilet-training process around the age of 18 months. With the right methods, young children can then in most cases become trained relatively quickly.
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"Kindergarten teachers and kindergarten leaders today literally have their hands full with the non-sanitary toddlers in their class," said Weyts. "I don't think it's wrong to point out to parents their responsibility here."
