Katherine Rich MP
National Party Education Spokeswoman

20 April 2007

Failed science experiments? No problem for an NCEA pass

Under Labour, good intentions, rather than good science, are enough to get a pass in NCEA science, says National’s Education spokeswoman, Katherine Rich.

“Students studying chemistry can design unworkable science experiments and still achieve Level 1 NCEA chemistry.

“A Moderation Report for Chemistry, which is provided by the New Zealand Qualifications Authority to guide marking, bizarrely says, ‘It is only for merit that the plan needs to be feasible.’

“The upshot is that teachers are now being asked to give an achieved grade to a girl or boy who designs an experiment that is not even feasible. That is, it would not work.

“This is a nonsense. We are talking about science here, not a creative dance class. If the experiment doesn’t work, then the experiment fails. In fact, it could be dangerous in some cases.

“Imagine if Ernest Rutherford had applied this ‘doesn’t matter if the experiment works or not’ policy to his scientific endeavours.

“The school teacher who provided this information is a science teacher rightly appalled that chemistry could be dumbed down in such a way.

“While protecting his identity for fear of repercussions he said, ‘this is loopy. We are trying to teach good science. What sort of message does this send?’

“Education Minister Steve Maharey has been told time and time again about NCEA’s issues with encouraging mediocrity. This is another glaring example".

ENDS

See... NZQA Chemistry Moderation Report

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