NCEA Will Shackle Our Poorest Kids

act-new-zealand

Fri Jun 15 2001 12:00:00 GMT+1200 (New Zealand Standard Time)

NCEA Will Shackle Our Poorest Kids

Friday, 15 June 2001, 10:27 am
Press Release: ACT New Zealand

ACT Education Spokesman Donna Awatere Huata - the only politician who has consistently opposed the National Certificate in Educational Achievement (NCEA) - today warned of a bleak future if the flawed scheme is implemented.

"We are going to have a two-tier education scheme in New Zealand: decent schools are going to offer baccalaureate or A Level examinations, while second-rate institutions will only provide the NCEA.

"We are already seeing the split. Brave principals are standing up and rejecting the NCEA while others ignore huge concerns and going along with the scheme.

"Wealthy, high-performing schools are refusing to have anything to do with the Certificate. They have the luxury of being able to afford to look at other options. Poorer schools don't. Our most destitute kids - Maori and Pacific Island youth - are going to suffer.

"Employers are going to judge our kids based on the name of their school, because the NCEA doesn't give them any other way to accurately gauge performance.

"Trevor Mallard is pushing through the NCEA at the cost of the future of thousands of our kids," Donna Awatere Huata said today.

Ends

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