Hon Steve Maharey
Minister of Education

Media Statement

Time to stand up for our national qualification

The Education Minister, Steve Maharey, is calling on teachers and principals to advocate the strengths of NCEA as our national qualification, and an essential centrepiece of our 21st century education system.

The Minister is addressing teachers, school leaders and academics today in a speech at Auckland University called 'Time to stand up for our national qualification'. It follows an overwhelming endorsement of the design changes of NCEA announced last week.

"The latest improvements will create an even more credible system that challenges students and motivates them to do their best and have it recognised. They have been welcomed by students, teachers, principals groups, boards of trustees, employers and political parties."

The changes include introducing 'excellence' or 'merit' to NCEA certificates this year and to subjects next year, while also including 'not achieved' in results notices and boosting moderation of internally assessed standards.

"NCEA is the right qualification for New Zealand. It is geared to getting the best results for every single student, by setting clear standards, recognising excellence and delivering meaningful information to parents and employers.

"The headmaster of Christ's College in Christchurch, Simon Leese, recently wrote in the Press that NCEA's credibility 'lies in its capacity to stretch the most able, and to prepare them for higher scholastic achievement. It does that. There is no evidence whatever to the contrary.'

"NCEA suits the needs of our young people, stretching our top students and improving the performance of those who used to leave school with nothing and now gain a qualification.

"Our priority now is to get on with NCEA because constant bickering merely undermines student motivation. As an Onslow College student told Radio New Zealand last week, the NCEA debate does impact student motivation, saying 'the most important thing is to not have all this negative press about NCEA.'"

The design changes announced last week were recommended in 2005 reviews of NCEA. The reviews had 191 recommendations, and all of them have now either been completed or are actively being rolled out.

ENDS

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