English Bill: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to Ministers 
English Bill: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to Ministers 
[Volume:623;Page:18669] 
10.  
Hon BILL ENGLISH (National—Clutha-Southland) 
 to the  
Associate Minister of Education 
: Has the Ministry of Education reported to him on anomalies or problems in the 2004 NCEA examinations for levels 1 to 3? 
Hon DAVID BENSON-POPE (Associate Minister of Education) 
: 
 No. 
Hon Bill English 
: Has the Minister seen a report that a retired professor of chemistry and former chief examiner for the bursary exam could not complete the National Certificate of Educational Achievement (NCEA) level 3 chemistry exam in the 3 hours allotted and reports of comments made by the chair of the Canterbury Science Teachers Association that: “Level 3 students will be very disadvantaged because they will get much lower marks than they really deserve.” estimating that 2000 to 3000 students would be affected? 
Hon DAVID BENSON-POPE 
: I have not seen either of those reports. 
Helen Duncan 
: What information has the Minister received from the New Zealand Qualifications Authority about the NCEA results? 
Hon DAVID BENSON-POPE 
: I asked for information from the Qualifications Authority and the key information about the 2004 university entrance pass rates is that they show that in 2004 47.2 percent of year 13 students gained university entrance compared with 51.9 percent in 2003 and 51 percent in 2002. 
Bernie Ogilvy 
: Can he confirm that students who do not attempt certain external standards are marked as “Not achieved”; if so might this account for the increasing number of failures in certain subjects in light of anecdotal evidence that students are increasingly attempting only those standards that they need in order to pass the required number of credits? 
Hon DAVID BENSON-POPE 
: Yes I can. I think the factor the questioner identifies is a major one in the apparently large failure rate that is showing up. This matter will be clarified as the full analysis of the final results is carried out. 
Hon Bill English 
: Can the Minister confirm his earlier response that he has not seen any of these reports and that that means he is sitting in his office and asking the New Zealand Qualifications Authority to give him reports about the bits of the NCEA that did work so he can put those in press releases but is ignoring the raft of stories that are coming out of the woodwork right across the country from students teachers examiners markers and parents? 
Hon DAVID BENSON-POPE 
: I did not say that I had not seen any of those reports. I referred specifically to the two reports that Mr English raised. I can assure him that I do give my attention extensively to the material that comes to me. I study it and ask for specific comment where appropriate. 
Helen Duncan 
: Can the Minister advise the House what reports he has seen about NCEA? 
Hon DAVID BENSON-POPE 
: Yes I can. For example I received a report from a meeting of the secondary school representatives on the Schools Consultative Committee which met on Monday 14 February. I quote from that report: “Generally the sector has confidence in the NCEA. It was recognised there were still rough edges but this was inevitable with such a major change. Again from their perspective what was important was that there was confidence in that as problems and issues arose the sector and the agencies concerned worked together to address them in a credible and transparent way.” That attitude is exactly the attitude the Government is taking. 
Hon Bill English 
: Why is the Minister interested only in good-news reports about the NCEA and will he be interested in a paper that will be published in a New Zealand chemistry magazine in which the author—the same professor who could not finish the exam in 3 hours—will say that he wonders whether the NCEA pattern of writing achievement standards in small sections is not producing an over-complex system containing too much meaningless gobbledygook and that the length of the 2003 chemistry exam was inexcusable and a disaster for students; if so what will the Minister do about that or will he just ignore it? 
Hon DAVID BENSON-POPE 
: I can assure the questioner and the House that I am interested in all reports positive and negative about the NCEA and I am happy to investigate any particular instances that raise concerns with the member. 
Hon Bill English 
: What reassurance can he give an estimated 2000 to 3000 students who may have been disadvantaged by a shonky examination paper; what message can he give them today to reassure them that they have been not been cheated out of results they should have got as a result of their hard work and the hard work of their teachers? 
Hon DAVID BENSON-POPE 
: If the member is prepared to provide me with any substance of such allegations I will have them investigated.