Thousands more could fail new school qualification
New Zealand education ministry documents suggest that a significant percentage of Year 12 students could fail a new secondary school qualification. While the government emphasizes that support measures are in place, teachers' unions are concerned about the potential for high failure rates.
Why it matters
Changes to national education standards can have long-term impacts on student attainment and future career opportunities.
Nearly half of Year 12s could fail the new secondary school qualification under a worst-case scenario.
Education Ministry estimates in documents obtained under the Official Information Act (OIA) by the Post Primary Teachers Association (PPTA) ranged from an optimistic failure rate of nearly 30 percent at Year 12 and a pessimistic estimate of about 45 percent.
Both figures were well above the current failure rate of more than 15 percent for Year 12s attempting NCEA level 2.
The Education Ministry said the estimates had significant limitations and would be mitigated by measures including training for teachers.
"As part of policy development, the ministry undertook early scenario-based modelling to explore possible outcomes to help inform implementation planning. These figures are not a forecast or prediction of future attainment rates," it told RNZ in a statement.
Get smarter about the news
Sign up free for a feed built around what you actually care about, Dive Deeper research on any story, and the full text of every article.
Create free accountAlready have an account? Sign in