NCEA policy ‘in la-la land’
Headmaster says proposed changes to senior school exams ‘dangerous’
Radical changes to senior school exams have been slammed by the head of one of our biggest schools as “dangerous” and “irresponsible”. Auckland Grammar School headmaster Tim O’Connor, where 60 per cent of senior students sit Britishbased Cambridge exams, predicts that more schools will abandon the National Certificate of Educational Achievement ( NCEA) if changes proposed in a discussion document are adopted.
He says the document’s authors are “in la-la land” in saying that students should have “capabilities and attitudes for lifelong learning” by the end of Year 11.
“I think we are standing in the quicksands of NZ education right now,” he said.
“We are going to be going into a deep, dark place in what I see as a lack of responsibility by the adults for the children in this conversation.
“I frankly believe that the removal of NCEA Level 1 in the manner that they are describing it — literacy and numeracy and even having a conversation about does financial and civic literacy fit into that definition of literacy — is a very, very dangerous start.”
The discussion document, which kicks off what promises to be a fiery consultation period, proposes reducing NCEA Level 1 from an 80-credit, multi-subject qualification to 40 credits — 20 for literacy and numeracy and 20 for a project “driven by learners’ passions”.
Literacy and numeracy requirements at Level 1 would be tightened, responding to criticisms that students can gain literacy credits from subjects such as art history.
But the document suggests that the meaning of literacy might be broadened to “encompass skills like digital, financial or civic literacy”.
It would require at least 20 out of 80 credits at NCEA Levels 2 and 3 to come from “pathway” activities such as trades courses, research projects and community work, often partnering with outside employers, tertiary institutions and community groups.
It would reduce the current complex menu of 9360 NCEA “standards”, many of which are worth only two or three credits, down to larger chunks of “coherent courses”.
Students’ achievement records would be rewritten in curriculum vitae format showing their “capabilities”, “attitudes” and extra-curricular achievements as well as the courses they have passed.
Post Primary Teachers’ Association president Jack Boyle said he hoped the new system would offer all students a chance to learn to their strengths, rather than dropping out with “nowhere for them to go”.
Secondary Principals Association vice-president Deidre Shea said the changes would “streamline” assessment and provide more time for coherent learning, but she was unsure how much support there would be for the radical changes proposed for Level 1.
Business NZ education manager Carrie Murdoch and Employers and Manufacturers Association chief executive Kim Campbell welcomed the emphasis on clearer pathways to further study and jobs.
“Those young people who have had even the smallest or most modest amounts of work experience are the most likely to get employment,” Campbell said.
National Party education spokeswoman Nikki Kaye said she and party leader Simon Bridges were briefed on the proposals and agreed to work “across-parties”.
Act Party leader David Seymour welcomed what he called “a quality document” but warned that serious tightening of literacy and numeracy standards would require “taking a hit” on pass rates.
The Education Ministry is inviting local volunteers to workshops starting on June 5 to discuss how they can help run public workshops in 20 centres starting on June 25. Public submissions are open until September 16.