Mackey Moana: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to Ministers 
Mackey Moana: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to Ministers 
[Volume:628;Page:606] 
4.  
MOANA MACKEY (Labour) 
 to the  
Minister of Education 
: What recent reports has he received on progress with the NCEA exam season? 
Hon STEVE MAHAREY (Minister of Education) 
: 
 The exam season is going smoothly. The sitting of the National Certificate of Educational Achievement (NCEA) exams is now complete and scholarship will finish this Saturday. Marking is now under way and is progressing as anticipated. To ensure consistency and fairness early in the marking process a sample of scripts is marked and checked. The marking schedule is altered if necessary. That is exactly the process that was put in place earlier this year and it is working exactly as expected. 
Moana Mackey 
: What is being done to ensure a high level of transparency around NCEA and scholarship exams? 
Hon STEVE MAHAREY 
: During the year the New Zealand Qualifications Authority held 272 workshops around the country involving 4000 lead teachers. Prior to exams the authority sent information directly to parents and schools. Since exams began the authority has provided regular updates to the public including a press briefing five media statements numerous media interviews and an exam hotline 0800 NCEA. Since marking began the marking schedules of just nine so far out of 335 standards have required attention. These have been identified early and dealt with. This means that the marking schedules for less than 2 percent of all of the questions for all of the standards in all of the subjects have required some attention. 
Hon Bill English 
: Is the Minister aware that at a select committee hearing this morning the Ministry of Education disagreed with the public statements made by the New Zealand Qualifications Authority over how the marking is happening and when the ministry was asked whether it agreed with Karen Sewell’s statement that there was an expected distribution of results the ministry official said: “No it’s not quite like that.” so whom do we believe? 
Hon STEVE MAHAREY 
: What we believe is that this is a standards-based system and people are working towards a standard. The member has often raised the notion of scaling so can I point out to him that scaling cannot take place until all the marks are in. All the exams have to be marked for scaling to take place. I know that the member has never marked exams but he has to understand that that is when scaling can take place and not before. 
Hon Bill English 
: I raise a point of order Madam Speaker. I asked the Minister a direct question which was whether he was aware of the disagreement between the Ministry of Education and the New Zealand Qualifications Authority. He did not actually refer to that at all and I request that he answer it. 
Madam SPEAKER 
: Yes the member is correct. Would the Minister address that part of the question please. 
Hon STEVE MAHAREY 
: Until I can check that matter given the member’s track record I will not reply to the question. 
Gerry Brownlee 
: I raise a point of order Madam Speaker. How is that reply in any way in order and how will it help order in the House? 
Madam SPEAKER 
: Certainly the Minister’s reply that he should check was in order; the throwaway line about his reference to the member was not. So I ask that member to stand and withdraw that part. 
Hon STEVE MAHAREY 
: I withdraw the last part of the answer. 
Moana Mackey 
: What advice has he received that students and parents can have confidence in the exam system? 
Hon STEVE MAHAREY 
: The Post Primary Teachers Association (PPTA) recently passed a motion of confidence in the National Certificate of Educational Achievement (NCEA). Graham Young from the Secondary Principals Association early this week said that “problems were being recognised early and rectified promptly”. Karen Sewell the acting Chief Executive of the New Zealand Qualifications Authority said: “The process we put in place this year is working as expected.” In other words those who set sit and administer the exams are confident the process is working. The only person who is seeking to undermine this confidence is Bill English and he should take his own advice and let young people sit their exams and teachers do their marking.