Queensland kids stopped by parents from NAPLAN more than anywhere else in country

Amid the actual NAPLAN results for Queensland school students, the state is leading the nation on a more concerning statistic.

QUEENSLAND kids were stopped from sitting NAPLAN tests by their parents at higher rates than anywhere else in the country.

The NAPLAN result reports released this week by the Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority have revealed the percentage of Queensland kids withdrawn from testing was the highest of all the states, in every subject and year level.

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Year 9 kids had the highest rates of withdrawal, with 8 per cent pulled from sitting the numeracy test.

For Year 3, 5 and 7 rates hovered between 4.5 per cent and 5.7 per cent – more than ten times some other states.

According to ACARA, students can be withdrawn from testing by their parents if there are “religious beliefs or philosophical objections to testing”.

The LNP has seized on the revelation, and called for the rules around withdrawal to be “much more stringent” if the government wanted NAPLAN to be used to boost results.

“Queensland’s NAPLAN results have gone backwards in the last year under Labor and it’s scary to think it could be even worse,” LNP education spokesman Jarrod Bleijie said.

Queensland kids were withdrawn from NAPLAN tests by their parents at higher rates than anywhere else in the country.

Education Minister Grace Grace said any decision to withdraw a child landed with their parents or carers.

She said the recent NAPLAN review brought up a number of issues, including that “the now-perceived high stakes nature of the test has led some parents to withdraw their children from the test in an effort to eliminate pressure and stress on the child”.

Griffith University researcher Dr Judy Rose said there was a number of reasons why more parents were choosing to pull their kids out of NAPLAN, including anxiety, and even possibly schools suggesting to parents of certain students to withdraw.

“I think parents are starting to realise and becoming more aware that they do have a choice on whether their child sits the test or not,” she said.