Newman slams NCEA reforms call

Te Tai Tokerau Principals’ Association president Pat Newman has reacted angrily to the suggestion that Year 7-8 children undergo external assessments as part of NCEA reforms.

“These people clearly not only know zero about how children learn and what is important in learning, but worse still, they have not learnt from the National Standards debacle,” Mr Newman said.

“If the three ministers really understand educational pedagogy, really understand how children truly learn, understand what is important in children’s learning, then they need to bury this cuckoo idea immediately, today, and not a day longer.

“I’m really tired, as are my colleagues, of having to put up with stupid idea after stupid idea emanating from Wellington,” he added. “On the salaries they earn you would expect them to have at least a little bit of educational knowledge. As well, one should expect that those who work with children on a daily basis would be consulted prior.”

The Ministry of Education was asking if children as young as Year 7 should be allowed to attempt the yet-tobe-developed NCEA standards, in response to concerns that too many students were leaving school without sufficient literacy and numeracy skills to get jobs or pursue further study. A study for the Tertiary Education Commission had shown that 40 per cent of students with NCEA Level 2 did not meet the level of reading and numeracy regarded in adult testing as the minimum for life in a knowledge economy, even though they had met minimum NCEA standards for literacy and numeracy.