ACT is supporting secondary schools looking to offer their students an international examination when school certificate
and bursary exams are replaced with the new National Certificate in Educational Achievement in 2002.
Auckland Grammar school has signed an agreement with Cambridge University to offer its A level entry qualification with
24 other New Zealand schools also expressing interest in offering the exam.
ACT Education Spokesman Donna Awatere Huata said the concerns of schools about the National Certificate were valid and
it would add to the already watered down education system that lacked benchmarks and nationalised testing.
“The National Certificate has not been tested or trialled. It’s an experiment we just can’t afford in our schools and
ACT would want to see a return to external examinations like School Certificate and Bursary,” she said.
“We have adopted a politically correct position in our education system where we do everything we can to avoid measuring
the achievement of students,” she said.
“Our schools should be congratulated for wanting to offer their students a top examination that is internationally
recognised and challenges them to compete against the best students in the world,” said Donna Awatere Huata.
ENDS