NAPLAN tests are on around the country this week, giving some the chance to reflect on the national testing regime.

Students in years three, five, seven and nine have been tested once again, with results to be published on the Government's My School website.

The program has been running for almost a decade, and has been criticised the entire time.

New South Wales shadow education minister Jihad Dib, who is also a father and former principal of Sydney's Punchbowl Boy's High School, says NAPLAN puts a lot of pressure on kids.

“I've got two kids and they both went off today, and my daughter is not only nervous but she apparently had a little bit of a stomach ache and was wondering if she could stay at home,” Mr Dib told the ABC.

“That to me highlights the fact that there is enormous pressure being placed on kids.

“And as we said to her, just do your very best and we know that it doesn't measure things that are special about you.”

Dr Rachel Wilson - a senior lecturer in Educational Assessment and Evaluation at the University of Sydney – says there should be less build-up about NAPLAN.

“We know that when you test children in exam situations, they suffer from what we call performance factors,” she said.

“If you do assessments seamlessly within a classroom environment, you're getting rid of those factors and consequently the assessment is more valid, because it's really tapping into the key abilities of the children.”

Aside from the pressure, there is also concern that NAPLAN disadvantages students from rural and regional areas.

One example taken from a previous test is a question relating to a bus timetable.

The curriculum developer at the remote St Kieran's Catholic Primary School in Mount Isa said in an interview this week that a bus timetable is an unfamiliar concept to a kid in Mount Isa.

Along the same lines, the Principal of the Charters Towers School of Distance Education says the national testing scheme must ensure that the context of the assessment relates to the students' life experiences.

Dr Stanley Rabinowitz - general manager of the Australian Curriculum Assessment and Reporting Authority (ACARA), which runs NAPLAN – says the questions are designed to test knowledge and skills of kids nationwide.

“The development of NAPLAN test items [the questions] is an extensive process and takes over a year,” Dr Rabinowitz said in a statement.

“Test developers are engaged to develop questions that meet tight specifications, the foremost being content that is accessible by all students.

“Then, test managers from each state and territory across Australia review the proposed test items.

“Of course, not every student will have personal experience of everything tested.

“For example, there may be students who have never had to read a bus timetable in real life. However, the curriculum requires that students are taught how to interpret and use timetables, and therefore it is appropriate for that skill to be tested.”

ACARA chief Rob Randall says the test remains important because it “allows us nationally to see how well we're going in these important areas, at a state and territory level, all the way down to a school and classroom level”.

“So we see NAPLAN complementing what schools have, but giving that national reference point,” Mr Randall said.