Former Reform UK chairman Ben Habib has criticised calls to “strip back” times tables tests.
Ministers are being urged to cut down the number of tests in primary schools amid fears they lead to high levels of anxiety in children.
Speaking on GB News, Dawn Neesom branded the idea “insane” as Habib stressed their importance.
“The complaint being made is national exams shouldn’t take place for these”, he said.
“That could be debated. But what I disagree with wholeheartedly in that statement is that schools shouldn't be held to account.
“If you don't hold schools to account, you can't be certain that students are learning what they should be learning.
Ben Habib has hit out at the plans
GB NEWS / PA
“And I don't buy into the notion for one second that that the stress caused by being tested as a child.
“I think it's a crucial aspect of learning that you are tested, whether that's a national level test or as when I was a child, we used to have weekly spelling tests.”
Unions have also floated the idea of dumbing down Year Six SATs by cutting out the most difficult grammar questions.
The demands are set to be handed over to Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson for her curriculum and assessment review.
A union is concerned about the impact times tables has on children's mental health
Getty“The times table tests should become optional,” a union source told The Telegraph.
“We are not saying children shouldn’t learn times tables. They are really helpful. But the need to have the times table check is a bit of an unnecessary waste of time.”
Habib is worried about the country losing its “risk takers” with less challenging conditions for young people.
“The essence of the creation of the empire was risk taking”, he said.
“We’ve gone from being a nation of risk takers to being risk averse to the cautionary principle ruling our lives to being absolutely dumbed down by it to the point we’re talking about anxiety in children just because we want to teach them.
“We have got to reverse this. If we want this nation standing on its own two feet, you need people with a stiff upper lip.”
