Scholarship report shows fast track to failure

The country's elite secondary school exam was always going to be a tough test - but a scathing report shows many students were facing an almost impossible task.

The State Services Commission report out yesterday reveals students were disadvantaged by "measures beyond their control".

Inconsistent preparation, extra-hard questions, an inadequate curriculum and an overly compressed timetable are all blamed for the Scholarship debacle that unravelled this year.

The report largely blames the Qualifications Authority, saying focus was weak and confused, policy advice inadequate, and the system "drifted" into place without consideration of the risks.

Last year's brightest 4500 students have been left with a set of results that will always be regarded with scepticism and remembered as a hopeless lottery.

They are victims of what National's education spokesman, Bill English, last night called a "saga of complacency and incompetence".

What began in 1998 with a Cabinet paper heralding an unprecedented change in teaching, learning and assessment, ended yesterday with a resignation and a damning indictment on the exam system.

The report revealed Scholarship was still being bedded down six months into the normal exam cycle, new subjects were added with no history of examination at the top level and there was no professional development for teachers.

Students were left ill-prepared with an unfair outcome which may have affected entry into some university courses and eligibility for subsequent award opportunities.

"Students could not possibly have been as well prepared as was desirable and this was not taken into account by officials. The result was an outcome unfair on some students," the report said.

Bridget Clarke, a former Whangarei student who sat three Scholarship exams, said she "totally agreed" with the report - but it gave her little sense of satisfaction or justice.

"It has no relevance any more. It's a waste of time."

Ms Clarke, now studying at Victoria University in Wellington, said she hoped problems would be ironed out for future years.

The Government ordered the review of the Qualifications Authority's performance in February after fewer Scholarships were awarded than expected and results between subjects varied wildly.

Science passes were particularly hard to come by, but far higher numbers of art students passed in their subjects.

The highly critical report claimed its first casualty yesterday, with the resignation of Professor Graeme Fraser, chairman of the Qualifications Authority.

Board member Catherine Gibson, meanwhile, apologised to students.

"The board regrets very much any disadvantage to the students and we apologise to them and their parents."

Mr English said the Government had to take its share of the blame.

"Neither ministers nor bureaucrats have shown any consideration for the aspirations of thousands of young New Zealanders who worked hard towards achieving our premier academic award, only to find themselves the victims of this half-cooked hoax," he said.

The final report said NZQA failed to see that wide variability in scholarship results could undermine the credibility of the exams.

It failed to put together a comprehensive implementation plan that involved monitoring risks and in some areas failed to seek advice from the Education Ministry when it should have.

The report also said the ministry, along with NZQA, should have paid far greater attention to educating the public that there would be greater variability in results than in previous years .

Associate Education Minister David Benson-Pope said both NZQA and the Ministry of Education had to accept criticism around their failure to communicate risks and expectations. However, NZQA had to accept the lion's share of responsibility.