Mr English gets it wrong no.6, no.7 & no.8

Associate Education Minister David Benson-Pope says National Party Education spokesman has again today issued a media release riddled with inaccuracies.

No.6 Mr English today claimed that Mr Benson-Pope believes that there are problems with NCEA levels 1-3. Mr English is wrong.

Mr Benson-Pope has stated quite clearly in Parliament that he is seeking assurance that reported variability is both appropriate and acceptable. Hansard of 1 March records Mr Benson-Pope saying the following with regard to this issue: "I believe that it is entirely appropriate that the Government seek this level of assurance, in the circumstances." Mr Benson-Pope has said he is awaiting the outcome of the review on this matter before passing judgement.

No.7 Mr English also claims that an inquiry into the examination system 1) has no terms of reference and 2) that these supposedly non-existent terms of reference have not been made public. Wrong on both counts. The State Services Commission terms of references were attached to a media release titled 'Minister calls on State Services Commission to review performance of NZQA', which was released on 15 February. It has also been available on the State Services Commission website since that time at the following URL: www.ssc.govt.nz/nzqa-tor-review.

No.8 Mr English is wrong again when he claims yesterday's Parliamentary Question time was the first public mention of the inclusion of NCEA in the SSC – implying that somehow this was being kept secret. The Press (Christchurch) newspaper carried the story on 24 February, six days earlier, under the banner headline 'Govt seeks wider probe into NCEA'.

This story can be found at the following URL: http://www.stuff.co.nz/stuff/0,2106,3197605a7694,00.html

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