Labour should focus on quality of qualification

new-zealand-national-party

Fri Sep 01 2006 12:00:00 GMT+1200 (New Zealand Standard Time)

Labour should focus on quality of qualification

Friday, 1 September 2006, 5:19 pm
Press Release: New Zealand National Party

Hon Bill English
National Party Education Spokesman

1 September 2006

National Party Education spokesman Bill English says the Labour Government should focus on the quality of NCEA qualifications, rather than trumpeting about a small increase in the number of students completing them.

He is commenting on the Ministry of Education’s release today of school-leavers’ statistics, which show there has been a 1% increase in the number of secondary students gaining University Entrance.

The Ministry also claims that just 13% of students leave school with no qualification.

But Mr English says the Minister has no way of knowing whether this increase is due to improved teaching or whether it’s the result of lower standards.

“The Ministry’s claim that just 13% leave school with no qualification is dubious when almost a third of students fail the basic level 1 NCEA literacy standard.

“I find it very hard to understand how these students can gain the national qualification without a basic competency in literacy. If they can, we are all in a lot of trouble.”

ENDS

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 New Zealand National Party on InfoPages.