Ministers in gun over collusion in exam debacle

Accusations of a scholarship cover-up continued yesterday with allegations that the two ministers involved worked together to hide the problem.

Education Minister Trevor Mallard is being accused of trying to deceive the public with a statement he issued on January 26 announcing that the scholarship awards had been extended.

At the time Mr Mallard knew there were serious problems with scholarship exam pass rates and mark variability between subjects. But in the statement there is no mention of any problems with the exams - thus sparking the cover-up allegations.

The statement was issued almost two weeks before the Government admitted there was a problem and announced the replacement "distinction" awards.

National Party education spokesman Bill English has slammed Mr Mallard's actions as a cover-up.

Mr Mallard has denied this, saying his announcement to extend the scholarship awards implied there was a problem.

Yesterday, Mr English extended his accusation, saying Associate Education Minister David Benson-Pope had worked with Mr Mallard to keep information from the public about the disastrous examinations, which cost hundreds of New Zealand's leading students scholarships.

In Parliament yesterday it was revealed that Mr Benson-Pope knew about the controversy on January 25, and it was he who told Mr Mallard.

But Mr English said that for the following two weeks, as stories began surfacing in the media about mark variability and disgruntled teachers and students, Mr Benson-Pope denied any knowledge and said there was nothing he could do.

"The ministers' revelations confirm that Labour has focused its entire effort on minimising political damage rather than providing clear and honest information to distressed students, parents and teachers," Mr English said.

"There is no accountability. No minister or bureaucrat is facing consequences for this shambles but thousands of students are."

Meanwhile a state sector adviser, Doug Martin, was yesterday appointed to lead the State Service Commission review into the NZ Qualifications Authority and last year's scholarship exams.

It is one of two Government-ordered inquiries into the scholarship exams announced on Tuesday.

The other investigation, conducted by education experts, will make decisions about the format of this year's exams.

Mr Martin, a former senior public servant and now a director of strategic advisory firm Martin, Jenkins and Associates, was once the chief-of-staff to Prime Minister Jenny Shipley. In the past he has been called a "corporate cleaner" and a "slash-and-burner" for Government departments and Crown entities.

The paper trail

* Jan 14: Education Minister Trevor Mallard's office requests and receives scholarship information showing the low overall pass rate.

* Jan 15-16: Mr Mallard tells Prime Minister Helen Clark of concerns about the overall pass rates in scholarship exams.

* Jan 17: NZQA sends an email to Mr Mallard's office, and the office of Associate Education Minister David Benson-Pope, which contains a table showing the variability of pass rates between scholarship subjects. Neither minister is told of the email by staff.

* Jan 25: Cabinet agrees to increase number of scholarship awards because of high failure rate.

* Jan 25 (evening): Mr Mallard and Helen Clark are alerted about the variability across subjects in scholarship exams.

* Jan 26: Mr Mallard releases a statement saying the scholarship awards will be extended to include more students. The statement does not say why.

* Jan 31: Reports of inconsistencies in scholarship marks between subjects start appearing in newspapers.

* Feb 8: Mr Benson-Pope admits something went wrong. Distinction certificates and awards are issued to compensate.

* Feb 15: The Government announces two inquiries to scrutinise scholarship and NZQA.

* Feb 16: NZQA appears before Parliament's education select committee.