Oral Questions for 21 May 2025
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RNZ News
an hour ago
- RNZ News
Dead public service boss's remains brought into office
The National Library was originally going to be closed for the service, before it was moved to the Department of Internal Affairs' Wellington office. Photo: Google Maps A senior public servant's remains were taken to his Government department's office for a memorial service, after initial plans for them to be taken to the National Library were abandoned. Internal Affairs Minister Brooke van Velden says neither scenario was appropriate. The Department of Internal Affairs confirmed staff came together last week to farewell Deputy Secretary of Policy and Te Tiriti, Michael Lovett, in the department's Pipitea Street offices. Lovett's remains were brought onsite for the service. A spokesperson said: "Michael Lovett, Deputy Secretary at the Department of Internal Affairs, passed away last week after a short battle with cancer. "Michael made a significant contribution during his eight years at the Department and his loss is keenly felt." They said that on 1 August, staff from the Department and other colleagues came together at the DIA office to farewell Michael at a private event. Michael Lovett died last week after a short battle with cancer. Photo: LinkedIn Van Velden confirmed the service was originally planned to be held at the National Library and would've necessitated its temporary closure. "Firstly, my heart goes out to the grieving family and friends of the deceased - it is no doubt a very difficult time for them with the passing of a loved one. "I have expressed my view to the chief executive that I do not believe it was appropriate to plan to close the National Library for this purpose, nor for a deceased person to be present at the department's offices, and he has assured me that it will not happen again. Van Velden said the National Library remained open and the service ended up being held in a meeting room - in Internal Affair's central Wellington office - which was not open to the public. "I appreciate that staff may wish to mourn and express grief after the passing of a colleague, but I have asked the chief executive to review what occurred and look to alternatives that may be considered in future," van Velden said. A spokesperson for the Department of Internal Affairs said Lovett - who spent eight years at Internal Affairs - "passed away last week after a short battle with cancer". The Public Service Commission has been approached for comment but directed enquiries to the Department of Internal Affairs. Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero , a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
RNZ News
2 hours ago
- RNZ News
Education Minister David Seymour says NCEA changes will challenge students more
Associate Education Minister David Seymour. Photo: RNZ / Mark Papalii Associate Education Minister David Seymour says changes to NCEA will challenge students more, which he believes can only be a positive thing. The government announced sweeping changes to school qualifications on Monday, including the end of the NCEA system that has been in place for more than 20 years. The National Certificate of Educational Achievement will be gone by 2030, replaced by a basic literacy and numeracy award at Year 11, and the Certificate of Education and Advanced Certificate of Education at Years 11 and 12. The new certificates would be standards-based, like the NCEA is, meaning every student passes if they demonstrate the required knowledge or skills, but they would have to study at least five complete subjects and pass four of them to get their certificate. Seymour said students wanted to be challenged more, and the overhaul to the NCEA system will provide that. "I was really interested to listen ... there were some students who seem to make a virtue of NCEA's easiness, as they saw it," he told First Up. "But there was a strong current running through those comments from the students. There was actually a desire for a bit more challenge. "One of the things that will happen is that by having a subject-based system, where there's a body of knowledge that you have to learn, where there's exams that are objectively assessed, I think that that extra challenge is going to be there. "I think for those students and for the country as a whole, that can only be a positive thing." Seymour said the only real predictor of where New Zealand's going to be in 30 years' time is the amount of knowledge that is passed from one generation to the next. He said there is an element of the European system in the changes. "There, they have more vocational pathways and I'm not saying that we're introducing a particular country system, but there's a hint of it. "That if you're somebody who wants to do something more practical, and I look at the prospects of people coming out of their studies, and I often joke, I wish I'd been smart enough to choose being an electrician over an electrical engineer, because it's those tradies that everyone's so short of." Seymour sympathised with educators having to adapt to a new policy change, to allow everyone impacted to catch up. But he is confident support will be on hand as they map out the overhaul. "I'm sure that as the implementation rolls out, that support will be at the forefront of the government's mind," he said. "But we haven't got to the point right now, we're just consulting on the shape of it. What I would say is that, because we are going back to something that is subject-based, I think some people might say it's a bit more prescriptive, then it's going to be clearer to educators, this is what the curriculum is. This is how it's assessed." Seymour said there will be less work do "creating bespoke pathways". "I think that's something generally, that after the New Zealand curriculum came out in 200 - since we've had a unit-based assessment for most of this century - it's actually been harder for teachers because we don't have, 'here's the body of knowledge, here's the assessment, go to it.' "We've had a lot more background work for educators to work out what the pathway actually is for each student, and I hope that this approach will be welcomed." Macleans College principal and ministerial advisory panellist Steve Hargreaves said the changes provided more clarity and he expected it to be implemented correctly. "I think this is going to be phased really well, we do have a pretty long lead in," he told Morning Report. "We're going to get the curriculum first and that's how it should be, so we learn what to teach and how to teach it before we start designing the assessments. "There is a lot going on in primary school, but from what I can hear from my colleagues there, those changes to structured literacy and numeracy are landing really well." Hargreaves said students will join high school better prepared, and that teachers he had spoken to were really positive about the changes. He also believed it would encourage students to extend their stay at secondary school. "This is a bit of a guess, but I think it might lift the de facto leaving age," he said. "Now, if there's this indication that, well, you've got Level 1 and that's some kind of a leaving certificate, then students might head out the door. "But now with the sort of the base level achievement occurs at Year 12, then I think we will see more students staying on." Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero , a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
RNZ News
2 hours ago
- RNZ News
Man running for mayor in two cities under different names
It's not every day someone runs for mayor in two cities at once - let alone under two different names. But that's exactly what the brother of Invercargill's outgoing mayor is doing - and not everyone's thrilled. Katie Todd has the story.
