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So, what could the future look like? Education<br />
Minister Chris Hipkins says over-assessment of<br />
students and teacher workload will be addressed in<br />
this year’s review but NCEA will not be scrapped<br />
altogether.<br />
Hipkins told <strong>Style</strong>, New Zealand has a world-class<br />
education system “but there’s always room for<br />
improvement”.<br />
“Part of the issue is that it has become about<br />
credit accumulation rather than skill accumulation<br />
without enough focus on what that all adds up to.”<br />
He says many students are doing more credits<br />
than they need to and also not gaining the correct<br />
skill set for the areas they’re going into.<br />
He agrees with Juliet Collins that over-assessment<br />
is a big issue and the system focusses on constantly<br />
measuring rather than teaching and learning. “I want<br />
to tip the focus back to teaching and learning.”<br />
He says this review will result in an evolution of<br />
the current system where they will build on the<br />
strength of NCEA and refine it.<br />
Alex Tapper does not believe New Zealand’s<br />
current education system is world class. “In fact,<br />
many of the top universities around the world,<br />
including Oxford and Cambridge, do not recognise<br />
it as a rigorous-enough education system for the<br />
type of students they seek at their institution.”<br />
Alex is currently teaching in Thailand and plans to<br />
teach all over the world learning about education<br />
systems and their pathways for students. “From<br />
this I hope to move into academia in New Zealand<br />
and look at policy changes that could improve the<br />
education system.”<br />
Juliet Collins says she gets tired of hearing NCEA<br />
criticised roundly and that it has fantastic qualities.<br />
“It is important to remind ourselves that the<br />
qualifications that NCEA replaced were punitive,<br />
unfair and anachronistic.”<br />
She believes the future of education in New<br />
Zealand is very bright. “However, education, that is<br />
teaching and learning – truly drawing out the best<br />
from students, should not be confused with what<br />
National Standards did which was to provide a<br />
funnel to inhibit learning for the sake of assessment.<br />
I am truly glad to see National Standards gone as I<br />
believed they discouraged learning. I would like to<br />
see a wide-ranging review that really listens to the<br />
issues around assessment versus learning.”<br />
So, NCEA is here to stay but it’s some of these<br />
concerns by teachers and students alike that may<br />
see crucial changes made to it.<br />
“I am truly glad to see National<br />
Standards gone as I believed they<br />
discouraged learning.”