Hon Bill English - National Party Education Spokesman
2 March 2005
Labour bungles NCEA backdown
National's Education spokesman Bill English says Labour's inquiry into the NCEA looks set to be as reliable as the exam
results it is investigating.
"The inquiry, which is yet to be officially announced, has no terms of reference, will be headed by a person with no
experience in assessment and overseen by a Minister who, until yesterday, has continued to deny there is a problem."
Yesterday, David Benson-Pope publicly admitted that he had doubts about the NCEA results.
"After weeks of stonewalling, David Benson-Pope's change of heart and admission that there are problems has been
followed by a bungled attempt to keep the inquiry low-key," says Mr English.
"The very existence of the inquiry, and information about it, had to be dragged out of this secretive Government during
parliamentary questions.
"If Labour is serious about this inquiry, and about fixing the deep flaws within the NCEA, it must acknowledge what
exactly is going on and what the terms of reference are. This continuing secrecy and a refusal to take the NCEA problems
seriously is simply not good enough.
"Mr Benson-Pope and Mr Mallard have an obligation to the tens of thousands of students who sat NCEA to be absolutely
clear about what their concerns are and which results may not be valid.
"Labour has once again demonstrated it is far more concerned about political embarrassment and dodging accountability
than it is in getting to the bottom of this mess," say Mr English.
ENDS