Testing four-year-olds is out because they can’t read the questions: Telegraaf

Reception class children in the Netherlands will soon no longer be tested, reports the Telegraaf on Friday, citing unnamed sources.

It claims that the Dutch government will definitively rule out formal testing for the four to six year olds, largely because it’s a challenge to get them to read the test material.

Many primary schools currently, it reports, believe they are legally required to test their earliest years classes to comply with the norms around monitoring child progress.

But this testing – sometimes with official Cito exams – has caused controversy, especially due to the difficult process of testing reading and numeracy skills in subjects who cannot read the papers.

Coalition parties the VVD, CDA, D66 and CU have said they want to get rid of such tests in the coalition agreement and cabinet is expected to make an announcement soon.