One in six children streamed aged seven - survey

Article
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-13772918
According to a research done by the Institute of Education, one in six children are being streamed by ability by the age of seven. This means they are put in different classes, and are selected by their learning skills. The survey also showed some surprising results, like the fact that boys are more likely to end up in the bottom classes, that autumn-born children are more likely to end up in the top classes, and so on. The biggest critical response to the streaming of young children, is that the children didn’t benefit a lot from dividing them in groups of ability, because it would determine life chances very early on, since the mobility options between streams are very limited.

Opinion
It makes me feel very uncomfortable reading this. I have a niece who is seven years old, and the idea of her being separated from her friends on the basis of her or her friends’ abilities is unsettling. I don’t think she’d fully understand why she would be separated from her friends, and at an age that young you could try to explain them, but it would still feel like a punishment for her.  I understand that streaming those kids in different groups based on ability makes teaching easier, but I think it shouldn’t be done at an age that young. Teaching them how limited their choices eventually are has to be done at a later age, and so allowing them to be a kid a little while longer.