Hospital and roading upgrades form the bulk of infrastructure projects the Government intends to start before Christmas. Video / TVNZ
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon is “taking on” NCEA, responding to a recent report about its failures by saying his Government’s proposed changes could be “profound”.
Luxon told Newstalk ZB’s Mike Hosking Breakfast the Government would do something following warning bells sounded in the document.
Thref="https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/politics/ncea-changes-briefing-raises-concerns-over-qualifications-credibility-education-minister-erica-stanford-to-announce-proposals/WDSIREDPDJFLFOOPZLDHNIQLL4/" target="_self" rel="" title="https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/politics/ncea-changes-briefing-raises-concerns-over-qualifications-credibility-education-minister-erica-stanford-to-announce-proposals/WDSIREDPDJFLFOOPZLDHNIQLL4/">he damning Government briefing raised significant concerns about the credibility of the country’s main secondary school qualification.
Among the red-light alerts to Education Minister Erica Stanford is that the flexibility built into NCEA, including regarding what assessments students sit, means courses can be structured around those perceived to be “easier” to accumulate credits.
The Prime Minister yesterday announced $6b worth of construction projects were about to get under way. Photo / Mark Mitchell
Said Luxon on changes: “Everything’s on the table, because genuinely, there’s nothing more important than getting our kids well educated.”
He said he had heard from parents, teachers and principals who had serious concerns about NCEA.
“The danger is you can go reassured that you’re getting well educated because you’re getting through the NCEA system, but the thing for me and for the parents and teachers that I run into is, ‘are our kids at 15, 16 as well educated as their counterparts in Australia or Canada or Ireland or somewhere else where we went to?’
“That’s got to be globally comparable, and are we actually teaching them the basics and giving them a core educational programme that actually sets them up well for working life?
The Minister of Education, Erica Stanford, last Friday announced a $120 million spend on building more classrooms. Photo / Alyse Wright
“And there is a heap of high-paying jobs out there in the world, and the biggest thing that will impact the New Zealand economy is actually our ability for our talent, through education, to be able to access those high-paying jobs,” Luxon said.
“How are we going to build a four-lane freeway from Auckland to Whangārei if we don’t actually have kids who can do maths and some reading? We’ve got some real challenges there.”
He said he had discussed the issue with his Education Minister.
“[Stanford] is saying there is a real problem, and she and I have talked about this. We’ve worked our way through the primary and intermediate ages around structured literacy and mathematics. Now we want to take on NCEA and the secondary school piece.”
Stanford last Friday announced a $120 million spend on building more classrooms in Auckland, along with the creation of a new school property agency.
Two new school sites were also revealed. It had earlier been announced the Government was ditching open-plan classrooms and opting for standard designs.
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