Government announces changes to NCEA qualification due to Covid-19

Exams will be pushed back and there will be extensions for practical subjects.

Delayed end-of-year exams and extended portfolio submission dates are among changes to NCEA as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Education Minister Chris Hipkins said the changes are about easing the disruption to student learning caused by being out of school for around five weeks during the lockdown.

"We want to make sure...that we're not compounding any disadvantage that already existed before the lockdown," he said.

While the Education Ministry sent out thousands of learning resources, internet routers and devices, with low decile schools prioritised, inequities remained with student access to learning programmes during the lockdown.

The changes include delaying the start of external NCEA and NZ Scholarship exams by a week, from 6 November to 16 November, extending the submission date for students to submit a portfolio in subjects like design, from 28 October to 12 November, and removing the requirement for NZQA moderation of Level 1 and Level 2 visual arts portfolios.

The aim is to give students more time to learn and prepare.

Further changes are likely, once the education sector has discussed issues, that are expected to become more clear when kids return, with the Government.

"We'll do it very quickly but it's got to be comprehensive at the same time so that is going to take us a week or two because it's really important that we preserve the credibility of the qualification," Mr Hipkins said.

"That means that any decisions that I make I'm going to want to make sure that there's been some pretty robust analysis around them and actually that all the stakeholders... have been properly consulted on them."

That includes considering whether lowering the requirements for University Entrance is necessary.

Tawa College Year 13 student Rachel Duncan said she didn't think the one-week delay to exams would make much difference but said the submission date being extended for portfolios was a welcome move.

"I think that will be really beneficial for those individual subjects you have to hand in the externals significantly earlier to the other exams that we're doing, so if we're pushing that back to the other exams we've got a heck of a lot more time to actually work on it and to achieve at a higher level," Ms Duncan said.

Ms Duncan said she feels that the new portfolio date will help her achieve her goal of an excellence endorsement at Level 3 of the qualification.

"I am not sure if I would have been able to if that wasn't declared," she said.

Ms Duncan hopes universities will be more lenient with entrance requirements because of the impact from the pandemic.

"It would be beneficial to just see something done about it because people are affected and it will be beneficial for the students and their careers ahead."

Secondary Principals' Association of New Zealand president Deidre Shea said most schools would be happy with the announcement of initial changes.

"I think the pushing out of the dates will be a huge sigh of relief. That's an immediate and obvious thing that can be done.

"To announce it now before students come back to school physically on Monday is great, because they know already, "Ah, I've got a bit of pressure taken off me in terms of a little bit of time.'"

Ms Shea said extending submissions for practical subjects was a smart move as those students have been the worst affected due to the logistics of doing some subjects at home.

"The minister's been very aware, obviously as we all have, of the many challenges students are facing, having had several weeks where they've been able to learn online in many cases, and sometimes they haven't been able to learn," she said.

The announcement's another significant change for staff to plan for, with high schools just four days out from opening next week.

Aotea College principal Kate Gainsford said the lockdown has highlighted issues already acknowledged by some with the NCEA qualification, as students do not have time to focus on anything that will not help them in the future.

"The focus very much in schools at the moment will be how to make sure school leavers are getting what they need to prepare for their pathways so the heat comes off Level 1 in a sense," Ms Gainsford said.

"That extension to the portfolios is a good idea but we'll need to give them time to follow through on the learning that they've missed out on."

The college is considering a couple of subject-focused workshop days before the end of the year for students, particularly in practical subjects, to catch up on learning they've missed.

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