The heavy emphasis on teaching children to read and write in nursery and reception classes is preventing teachers from focusing on more important aspects of early childhood development, such as speaking and listening skills, the author of a major government report has warned.

John Bercow, a Conservative MP and author of a report on speech, language and communication (SLC) needs, said that many very young children needed help in speaking and listening to reduce the worrying number of pupils unable to string a coherent sentence together by the time they started school.

“For too long communication skills have been the poor relation by comparison with literacy. This is a grave error because communication is the key life skill from which all others follow. To date, communication has been undervalued and down played and too little recognised, we need to raise awareness of its importance,” he said.

Mr Bercow was speaking as the government announced a £40 million programme, called Every Child a Talker, which will provide training to help nursery staff identify and support children with speaking and language problems at an early age.

A further £12 million is being set aside to help implement the recommendations of Mr Bercow’s report, which was commissioned amid concerns that too many children were starting school at the age of five unable to respond to instructions or express themselves.

According to the report, approximately seven per cent of five-year-olds or nearly 40,000 children going into school in England have significant difficulties with speech and/or language. A further 5,500 have severe and complex speech, language and communication needs.

In some areas up to 50 per cent of the school-age population have communication difficulties. Problems range from delayed speech development and stammering to serious impairments and communication difficulties as part of a wider problem, such as autism.

“Speech, language and communications problems in children are three times as prevalent as dyslexia, ten times as prevalent as autism. And yet they are often unrecognised, just as dyslexia was 20 years ago,” Mr Bercow said.

While it was not clear what was causing this epidemic in SLC needs, he was concerned that too many children were being being exposed to television and computer games at an early age.

“As a matter of common sense, I think you can conclude that where a child is exposed or subjected to an endless diet of TV and video games without sufficient social interaction from parents or carers, then that can be damaging,” he said.

Alongside a series of recommendations for government, Mr Bercow urged parents to help children develop their communication skills by sharing activities such as family meals or outings where conversation is the focus.

His report found that access to information SLC and to services is often poor, continued support as children grow up is lacking and that effective joint working between the health and education services is rare.

Times Recommends

• A vicar’s wife: ‘There is no one to fight for us’
• Every little helps at the supermarket
• Ugg or Fitflop? The battle of the boots