NCEA faces major overhaul
A complete shake-up of NCEA will look at whether all students should attempt the level-one qualification and whether teenagers are being over-assessed.
The secondary school qualification, which replaced School Certificate, Sixth Form Certificate and Bursary was introduced in 2002 and Labour signalled ahead of the September election it would review it if in government.
Education Minister Chris Hipkins announced the terms of reference for the review on Thursday, which will initially lead to a discussion document for public consultation in April next year.
It comes on the back of Hipkins announcing on Tuesday that National Standards, the assessment system used in primary and intermediate schools, has been officially scrapped.
Hipkins said over-assessment of students and teacher workload will be addressed as part of the review, which starts early next year. NCEA will not be scrapped altogether as part of the review.
‘‘Students and teachers have told us over-assessment is a real issue and impacts their wellbeing and workload. This and the importance of teaching life skills in schools, such as resilience, creativity, communication and adaptability, will form part of the review.
‘‘The review will also look at the role of each level of NCEA, particularly the structure and relevance of NCEA Level 1 and whether all young people should attempt it.’’
National’s education spokeswoman Nikki Kaye supported the review, which she said the former government had also announced ahead of the election.
‘‘There doesn’t need to be politics involved, there’s a genuine process under way ...’’
Kaye said it was important for public confidence in the education system that any changes were well communicated and she agreed that there were issues around NCEA level 1 and whether all students should be sitting it.
The NCEA review is an ‘‘opportunity to refine and strengthen our key national qualification for young people leaving school, and to ensure that NCEA remains relevant in the modern world,’’ Hipkins said.
‘‘The Government is committed to delivering a future-focused education system that equips students with skills and knowledge to be globally competitive.
‘‘The introduction of NCEA represented a significant modernisation of the system of secondary school assessment. However, the full potential of NCEA has yet to be fully realised. This review will build on what has been achieved with NCEA to date ...’’
The Ministry of Education will run the review, later opening it up for all New Zealanders to comment and contribute. A ministerial advisory group of ‘‘innovative thinkers, who can challenge traditional thinking on senior secondary education and assessment’’ will lead the review.