Schools Should Reject NCEA Level 2

ACT education spokesman Donna Awatere Huata has reiterated her call for schools to reject the implementation of Level 2 of the NCEA, after teachers agreed to lift their total ban on the next stage of the qualifications system.

"Trevor Mallard's own admission that the Ministry of Education underestimated the level of work required to achieve Level 1, should ring warning bells for all concerned," Mrs Awatere Huata said.

"Why does the Minister think the implementation of Level 2 will be any easier?

"The NCEA has been a disaster from the beginning. It is only the shear pig-headedness of the Minster that continues to drive this failed experiment.

"It's about time Mr Mallard faces reality and admits the whole sorry saga has been a huge mistake.

"Instead of listening exclusively to his Ministry bureaucrats, Mr Mallard should seek an independent cost-benefit analysis of the new qualification system. If he had sought such independent advice earlier, he might not have been so keen to proceed.

"The time has come to scrap the NCEA and reinstate a system of nationwide external examinations that are of a high standard and internationally comparable," Mrs Awatere Huata said.

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