Socialists Well On Track

act-new-zealand

Wed Mar 19 2003 12:00:00 GMT+1200 (New Zealand Standard Time)

Socialists Well On Track

Wednesday, 19 March 2003, 4:01 pm
Press Release: ACT New Zealand

The Labour Government's social engineers are well on track for their utopia of dumbing down the education system, ACT New Zealand Education Spokesman Deborah Coddington said today.

"Respected secondary school principals are outraged at an NZQA circular, which proposes altering the NCEA to enable individual schools to `set' their own external exams - then mark them too," said Ms Coddington.

"As one principal said to me today, the whole point of external exams is that they are set by an independent person or group, marked by an independent person or group, and thereby ensure the qualification's integrity, validity and credibility.

"In doing this, Education Minister Trevor Mallard is proposing a removal of all external exams from NCEA Level One. Can we assume that Levels Two and Three will follow?

"Will all New Zealand children soon leave school with nothing more than a Leaving Certificate? This is socialism writ large - medals for all and a low-wage economy.

"This is being done without public debate - not that it would make any difference. The Education Minister has repeatedly shown his cavalier contempt for those professional teachers striving to give students a world class education," Ms Coddington said.

Advertisement - scroll to continue reading

a.supporter:hover {background:#EC4438!important;} @media screen and (max-width: 480px) { #byline-block div.byline-block {padding-right:16px;}}

Using Scoop for work?

Scoop is free for personal use, but you’ll need a licence for work use. This is part of our Ethical Paywall and how we fund Scoop. Join today with plans starting from less than $3 per week, plus gain access to exclusive Pro features.

Join Pro Individual Find out more

Find more from ACT New Zealand on InfoPages.