NZQA Board releases report into delivery of Scholarship 2004
The Board of the New Zealand Qualifications Authority today released an independent report that it commissioned into its
role, responsibilities and accountabilities in respect of the 2004 New Zealand Scholarship examinations. It commissioned
the report in March 2005 following the occurrence of unanticipated excessive variability in the results for certain
subjects.
The NZQA Board also released a letter sent this morning to the Associate Minister of Education, the Hon David
Benson-Pope.
The report and the letter can be viewed on the NZQA website at http://www.nzqa.govt.nz. This follows the release earlier in the day of the State Services Commission's Review of the 2004 Scholarship.
The convenor of the Scholarship Review Committee of the Board of the New Zealand Qualifications Authority, Catherine
Gibson, commented "As I have advised the Minister, the Board acknowledges the validity of both reports' key findings of
what went wrong and the reasons why. As the Qualifications Authority's governing body, the Board accepts responsibility
for its role in the governance and management shortcomings identified in the independent report to the Board. It accepts
that report's recommendations. In regard to the SSC report, the Board has made clear to management that the need for
inter-agency cooperation, as identified, must occur. The Board apologises to the Government for what happened and the
adverse consequences, especially for the students affected and their parents.
"The Board has subjected these events to intense scrutiny and taken the necessary steps to ensure that this does not
happen again. Building on existing work, we will be taking a number of steps within the next three months to implement
governance best practice, ensure better collaboration with other agencies on joint projects like Scholarship 2005, and
put in place sufficient human resources and skills to meet our many responsibilities. A particular focus will be the
Qualifications Authority's communications strategies for all stakeholders.
"Having received these reports, the Board will consider the question of further individual accountability in relation to
the issues raised as soon as possible.
"The Board's top priority in 2005 is to ensure that the delivery of both NCEA and Scholarship occurs in a way that gives
students, parents, teachers and the Government confidence, along with meeting the Qualifications Authority's other
responsibilities."