If formal literacy lessons benefited very young children, you would expect to see the UK was ahead of other countries on literacy. In fact, the reverse is the case.

In most of Europe, children do not learn to read and write until they are six or seven. Before that age, they are learning all the other skills they need in life; learning to play, to explore, to discover, to socialise and interact with other people. With three children in school, I have seen the stresses the UK approach brings first hand. One child was criticised for “wasting time” in her first year at primary school. She was four years old. How can you waste time at four years of age?

Another daughter informed us, after her first day in Year One, that her class couldn’t play anymore, except for ten minutes on Friday afternoons, if they had been good. In Year Six, she became bored out of her mind, as an entire year was devoted to practicing for Sat exams instead of learning. Her teacher was as upset as his pupils, having to squander a year on something that was for the school’s benefit and not the children’s.

Playing is learning – learning to co-ordinate muscles by drawing and scribbling, learning to organise thoughts and communicate opinions. Let children learn to paint and catch a ball, listen to stories and make friends. Then, when they are six and seven, they will be ready to begin formal literacy and numeracy lessons, and they will be well-adjusted human beings, and the UK won’t continue to be listed in Unicef reports as having the unhappiest children in the West.

Christian Vassie, Parliamentary spokesperson for the Liberal Democrats in York Central, Blake Court, Wheldrake, York.