Inquiry shows depth of concern over NCEA

Nick Smith - National Education Spokesperson

The urgent Education Select Committee of Inquiry into the troubles faced by schools over the NCEA qualification shows just how serious the problems are, says National’s Education spokesperson, Nick Smith.

“This is a rare case of the Government being vetoed by every other party in Parliament. Labour tried to hide the mess by voting against the inquiry, but National, the Greens, United Future, ACT and New Zealand First joined forces to ensure it proceeded.

“Teachers, principals and Boards are united in their anger over the botched implementation of the NCEA.

“The Committee must hold the Education Minister, the Ministry and the Qualifications Authority accountable for the under-resourcing, poor planning and inaccurate assessment standards that have left 57,000 students and 15,000 teachers coping with this mess.

“All confidence in the NCEA is crumbling because of poor implementation and it will not survive another year of this sort of chaos.

“The challenge for the Select Committee will be to quickly identify the problems and provide a clear pathway to get this new qualifications system back on track,” says Dr Smith.

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