Chris Hipkins
Wellington, January 27, 2018
Members of a group of innovative thinkers to advise the Education Minister and Ministry on the review of the NCEA to take place this year.
The Minister Advisory Group will meet for the first time this week and has been tasked with leading the creation of a discussion document on NCEA that will form the basis of a wider, public consultation on NCEA which is to commence in April 2018.
Important Opportunity
The NCEA review is a hugely important opportunity to refine and modernise what has been a very well-performing qualification system to ensure it serves the needs of our secondary students and prepares them for life in this modern age.
I wanted a group of advisors with diverse and potentially disruptive views to challenge us and I am confident they will do that.
The groups role is to shape the strategic direction and content of the discussion document, supported by the Ministry of Education and with input from a NCEA stakeholders, including students, parents, whnau, teachers, school leaders, tertiary providers, iwi, employers, and members of the wider community.
The Group members are Jeremy Baker (Chair), Barbara Cavanagh, Pauline Waiti, Michelle Dickinson (Nanogirl), Jonathan Gee, Arizona Leger and Charles Darr.
Workload assessment
At the top of the list of issues, we will focus on are overassessment of students and teacher workload. Students and teachers have been saying things need to be done in these areas to counter teacher burnout and put more emphasis on actual teaching.
And there is a lot more than this, including looking at the role of each level of NCEA, particularly the structure and relevance of NCEA Level 1 and whether all young people should attempt it.
My youth advisory group of students will provide input into the process, and I am looking forward to their contribution.
I will also be writing to Opposition MPs Nikki Kaye and David Seymour to invite them into the consultation process.
Towards the end of the year, we will produce a set of recommendations which will be released in early 2019 in a report that will also lay out the next steps to implementation.
The NCEA Review Cabinet paper and terms of reference, including the reviews timeframes, are available here.
Any questions about the NCEA review can be directed to ncea.review.
The group has been appointed for an initial term of one year commencing on February 1, 2018 and expiring on January 31, 2019.
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Photo Caption: Chris Hipkins (Supplied)
