The cult of testing - a modern superstition?

In an article in today's Observer newspaper the writer Frank Cottrell Boyce says:

The cult of testing has its roots in that great modern superstition: competition. Competition might sharpen the knife, but it will never invent the knife.

I like this. It's a neat way of pointing out not just that the emphasis on competition in schooling can stifle creativity, but also - and this is important - that the fixation with testing and competition is just a superstition. Placing one's trust in tests and competitiveness is as unscientific and irrational as hanging a horeshoe over your front door to bring good luck.

We definitely need less testing in schools and more of Frank Cottrell Boyces' story telling.