“Do not grade preschoolers" – DLP Senate Team Leader Tony Zegenhagen
Queensland’s DLP Senate team leader Tony Zegenhagen is horrified by the announcement that Queensland’s pre-schooler infants will be subjected to grading from A to E.
The chief executive officer of the Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority (ACARA) has told a Brisbane conference that national achievement standards would require the assessment under an A-E scale of all students from Prep to Year 10.
Mr Zegenhagen warned that at an age when children should be in the safety of their home being nurtured by their mothers or family, the State is intending to label or institutionalise kiddies as young as age four.
“Pre-school or kindergarten should be a safe place for children to learn to socialise and play together, not a drafting yard. Prep should not be used as some sort of State or Corporate indoctrination centre.”
“The message for the Queensland Government is: Do not grade pre-schoolers!”
Mr Zegenhagen continued: “One wonders to what extent arbitrary grading may cause physiological damage to children who will now be pre-judged before entering their first year of primary school.”
“Parents and the DLP already hold concerns at the direction and secrecy of the Queensland Studies Authority, and this sort of policy will only heighten legitimate community apprehension”.
