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Labour's obsession with school tests threatens to deprive children of "a joyful childhood", according to the man who drafted the Government's own education reforms.
Mick Waters, the architect of the new National Curriculum, warned that target-driven schools policies had reduced children to little more than a "currency" for boosting exam "scores".
His remarks drew a sharp response from ministers but won the immediate backing of teachers. Charities and child welfare experts have warned that children in Britain are among the unhappiest in the developed world.
Mr Waters said the system of Government targets and league tables was too "demanding", and "pitched schools against each other". Speaking to the magazine Teaching, he said: "The danger is that the children become a 'currency' that can bring us 'scores'. Children should go places, make things, build things, sing, play, look closely at their world, meet fascinating people and learn about themselves. We risk preparing for the future to the extent we overlook the present that all children deserve - a joyful childhood." Mr Waters was making his first public comments since he resigned as director of curriculum at the Government's schools quango, the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority, this summer.
Children's Minister Baroness Morgan said: "We do not subscribe to the view that testing is ruining childhood. We are making huge strides in building a fully rounded education that looks at the whole child."
However, Nansi Ellis, head of education policy at the Association of Teachers and Lecturers, said: "Children should not leave primary school stressed and tested to within an inch of their lives."
