By STACEY BODGER
The country's proposed new secondary school qualifications have moved closer to fruition with representatives from the sector agreeing on several issues.
Members of the Secondary Sector Forum have seen the first drafts of mock examination papers that students would sit under changed qualifications.
The forum was established last year to identify key issues surrounding the National Certificate of Educational Achievement (NCEA) and suggest solutions to them.
At its latest meeting on the shape the new qualifications should take, the forum reached agreement on what standards students would need to reach to attain scholarships.
It also accepted a working party's guidelines on moderation issues - how schools could develop internal assessment criteria that would be consistent throughout the country.
Forum convener Howard Fancy said introducing a system of scholarships for all subjects was proposed.
"Rather than just having scholarships in the traditional subjects, there will be a top scholar in all subjects and a demanding level set for other scholarships to require higher levels of understanding."
Mr Fancy said the forum's steady progress had kept the first stage of the NCEA, known as level one, on track to replace School Certificate in 2002.
Levels two and three will replace Sixth Form Certificate and University Bursary in 2003 and 2004, respectively.
Mr Fancy said the working parties would continue to establish guidelines before the forum's next meeting, expected early next year.
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