Children must be toilet trained before theystart school, the Ministry of Education announced this afternoon.Education Minister Dame Jennifer Smith issued a policy concerning the acceptance of children who are not toilet-trained into the public school system.She said Clause 53 subsection (1) of the Education Act 1996 provides:(a) “children shall be admitted according to admission procedures published by the Ministry.(2) Subsection (1) relates only to the principles governing admission and confers no right to free education otherwise than as provided by this Act.”Dame Jennifer added: “In making this announcement today, I am giving adequate notice, (five months), to parents, home care providers and guardians to ensure that children are ready and able to participate and function in a school environment.“We are aware that some children who have been registered for public preschools are not toilet trained. Parents must ensure that this situation is addressed before September 2011.“Toilet training is not a function of Education. Teacher training does not cover this aspect as children aged 4-years and up are expected to start school ready to learn. We are aware that the community expects a lot from our teachers and our schools and we accept that responsibility. At the same time, parents must ensure that students enter school ready to learn.”The Dame Marjorie Bean Hope Academy is exempted from this policy as are any students where there is a documented medical reason for the lack of toilet training.