Education Minister has credibility problem

new-zealand-national-party

Thu Jun 07 2007 12:00:00 GMT+1200 (New Zealand Standard Time)

Education Minister has credibility problem

Thursday, 7 June 2007, 11:09 am
Press Release: New Zealand National Party

Katherine Rich MP
National Party Education Spokeswoman

7 June 2007

The Education Minister’s latest outpourings on NCEA are a pinnacle of desperation, says National’s Education spokeswoman, Katherine Rich.

Steve Maharey has called on educationalists to help ‘build confidence in our national qualification’ which had become a ‘punching bag for a few people and organisations.’

“It will take more than a meek call from the Minister to turn around the public concern about NCEA.

“Steve Maharey does not seem to realise that he can’t get people to respect NCEA just by lecturing them and telling them what to think.

“Respect will only come after the implications of the current changes are understood, implemented and shown to make a difference to New Zealand students.

“The Minister faces a major credibility problem. Kiwis just don’t trust him to get NCEA right anymore. Labour ignored advice about NCEA for six years and only made changes after thousands of students had already been through the system.

“The Minister and his predecessors spent six years telling parents, students and teachers that everything was OK with NCEA, when clearly things were not OK.

“When he announced the changes to NCEA last week, everyone knew they were changes he had personally opposed only a few months ago. Why should people believe his weak rallying call now?

“Steve Maharey’s hyperbolic assertion that these changes ‘will create an even more credible system’ cannot remain unchallenged.

“If the system had been seen as sufficiently ‘credible’ in the first place there would have been no need to change it.”

ENDS

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