The Government should delay implementing the National Certificate of Educational Achievement in light of teacher industrial action, National MP Nick Smith says.
The NCEA will next year replace School Certificate, Sixth Form Certificate and Bursary, with the first of the last round of School Certificate and Bursary exams starting today.
Post Primary
Teachers Association members were asked in a postal referendum sent out last week whether they wanted to stop implementing the NCEA until their contract was settled.
If they did, students' work could not be assessed next year, leading -- in the worst case scenario -- to them not gaining qualifications.
Mr Smith, National's education spokesman, said the Government must delay implementing the NCEA.
"The Government must start thinking of the thousands of students affected and immediately delay implementation of the NCEA if it cannot settle the teachers contract this year," he said in a statement.
"It is not right that students should pay such a high price all because of the Government's refusal to acknowledge the increased workload of the new internally assessed qualifications."
Teachers nationwide have been holding rolling strikes over pay and non-student contact work time -- action Mr Smith said had robbed students of their best preparation.
The Government has offered teachers a 2 per cent pay rise now and 1.5 per cent next year but the union says that it is not enough to recruit new staff or stop teachers from leaving.
PPTA members want a salary increase of $2500 each year for the next three years. They are planning to keep rostering students home from school until November 29.
- NZPA
