Donnelly Brian: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to Ministers 
Donnelly Brian: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to Ministers 
[Volume:606;Page:3476] 
4.  
Hon BRIAN DONNELLY (NZ First) 
 to the  
Minister of Education 
: Has he received any reports on the recent study by Child Poverty Action Group “The irony of NCEA: How Compulsory Exam Fees Prevent the Achievement of Students from Poor Families”? 
Hon TREVOR MALLARD (Minister of Education) 
: 
 Not yet. 
Hon Brian Donnelly 
: Is it not true that this research report demonstrates that the level of fees for the NCEA in 2002 meant many children from poorer families could not enter the qualification; if so what are the implications for this year now that the fees have almost doubled? 
Hon TREVOR MALLARD 
: As far as the implications for this year are concerned that will depend on the remission policy that is set in the Budget process. As far as last year is concerned I am advised that not one principal raised the matter with the ministry the New Zealand Qualifications Authority or my office. That is something I am very disappointed about. If this report is accurate and no principal raised the matter then that is very serious. 
Bernie Ogilvy 
: Can the Minister confirm that the real reason that the fees for the NCEA have increased so markedly is the inadequate funding of the New Zealand Qualifications Authority which reported last year that its current expenditure on the NCEA is “not sustainable in the long term” forcing it to spend all its reserves in this coming financial year? 
Hon TREVOR MALLARD 
: There is no doubt that the New Zealand Qualifications Authority was carrying reserves much higher than was necessary and there was a requirement from the Government that those reserves be used in the first instance rather than immediate fee increases to students of the sort of level needed to recover the costs of the NCEA. 
Hon Dr Nick Smith 
: Can the Minister explain why Labour members in the 1990s cried howls of outrage at a 15 percent increase in the School Certificate and bursary fees over 9 years whereas after a 100 percent increase over 2 years not a single Labour member has expressed concern about a single New Zealand family? 
Hon TREVOR MALLARD 
: I can recall no such howls of outrage. The only howls that I hear are those of National Party members as they read the polls. 
Deborah Coddington 
: Is not the ultimate irony of the NCEA the fact that it will severely disadvantage poor students from low-decile schools because the internal assessment failure rate is half that of the external exam rate so their employment prospects will depend on which grammar zone their parents can afford to live in? 
Hon TREVOR MALLARD 
: I think the real irony of going down that track is that the gap between the internal and external assessment grades of decile 10 and decile 1 schools is wider at decile 10 than at decile 1. 
Metiria Turei 
: Can the Minister detail for the House how the imposition of any NCEA assessment fee will meet the Government’s own policy goal of reducing the dropout rate of students who “have the potential to gain secondary school qualifications but bail out before they can reach the later years of secondary schooling”? 
Hon TREVOR MALLARD 
: During the time of this Government there has been a considerable closing of the gap between poorer and richer areas as far as retention rates in the senior school are concerned. But I must point out that that is against a declining trend of retention because of the very very strong economy. 
Mark Peck 
: Is there any financial assistance to students to pay NCEA fees? 
Hon TREVOR MALLARD 
: Yes application for full remission was available for School Certificate and is available for the NCEA. It is always available for university bursaries. Requests for remission have declined since 2000 and the uptake remains underutilised. There was a $212000 or 37 percent under-spend last year. That may result from reduced unemployment rates or students’ parents not being aware of the remissions policy. That will be corrected this year.  
Hon Brian Donnelly 
: Noting the Minister’s statement that parents must pay for a high-quality qualification which presumably the NCEA is why are parents being made to pay $150—an increase of $80 from last year—for Sixth Form Certificate or is the transitional Sixth Form Certificate that much better than its predecessor? 
Hon TREVOR MALLARD 
: It is certainly no better. 
Hon Brian Donnelly 
: Given the rapid escalation of assessment costs in the past 2 years what is the Minister doing to ease the burden on middle to low income families who do not qualify for financial assistance and have several children taking qualifications in the same year? 
Hon TREVOR MALLARD 
: That is the area that is being reviewed as part of the Budget decision-making process.