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Education Minister on proposed scrapping of NCEA

Education Minister on proposed scrapping of NCEA

RNZ News2 days ago
The Minister of Education talks to Susie about her proposal to remove NCEA, and replace it with new qualifications.
Levels two and three are to be replaced with a New Zealand Certificate of Education and an Advanced Certificate.
Students would be required to take five subjects and pass at least four to get each certificate.
The changes would be phased in from next year, with the new certificates in place for year 12 from 2029 and year 13 the following year.
Stanford says the flexibility of NCEA has led to students focusing more on credit counting than mastering essential skills.
Education Minister Erica Stanford and Prime Minister Christopher Luxon announce changes to NCEA.
Photo:
RNZ / Nick Monro
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NCEA isn't perfect but NZ shouldn't forget why it was introduced in the first place
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But as the government seeks to address the "gaming" of the system , it shouldn't lose sight of why NCEA was introduced in the first place - and who it was designed to help. While the system has its flaws, a return to an exam-based model may not make the grade either. Education Minister Erica Stanford says there's been too much "gaming" of the system. Photo: RNZ / REECE BAKER NCEA was introduced between 2002 and 2004 to replace the School Certificate, Sixth Form Certificate and Bursary qualifications. Its aim was to broaden educational success, recognising diverse forms of learning as legitimate. The previous qualifications primarily valued traditional academic subjects because those were, in large part, the only ones available for assessment. NCEA represented a shift away from viewing vocational learning - for example, in trades or creative subjects - as less valuable and not a viable path to formal qualifications. It also marked a departure from "norms" based assessment, which scaled student results to fit predetermined pass and fail rates. In contrast, NCEA was "standards" based: if a student could demonstrate the required skills or knowledge, they received the credits. But since the early days of NCEA, there have been concerns students could achieve the qualifications without really having gained an adequate education. The flexibility of NCEA - allowing schools, teachers and students to tailor learning pathways - is both its greatest strength and its greatest weakness. It has been criticised for being confusing, inconsistent and lacking credibility. Last year, Mike Grimshaw, an associate professor of sociology at Canterbury University, raised concerns that students were entering university "functionally illiterate". He said New Zealand was "under-educating but over qualifying". Concerns such as this over NCEA have fuelled repeated calls for reform. 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Over the past two decades, more young people have left school with qualifications. But did they learn more? That remains an open question. The new system will likely bring consistency and arguably credibility to high school qualifications. But some students will pay the price of this higher-stakes approach to education. * David Pomeroy is Senior Lecturer in Mathematics Education, at the University of Canterbury. This article first appeared in The Conversation .

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