Speaking at a fringe event at the Conservative party conference, Nick Gibb branded the EYFS "typical of the bureaucratic approach to education that we oppose".
"We've got to get rid of that kind of approach to education," he said.
He claimed the system was based on a "ludicrous" tick-box mentality, and on the assumption that "before EYFS, nursery school teachers or reception school teachers didn't know about the development of every child in the class".
He warned: "We've got to trust professionals to do the jobs that they do well, not have all these forms."
But Megan Pacey, chief executive of Early Education, said Conservative early years policy was out of touch with professionals.
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