Rich Katherine: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to Ministers 
Rich Katherine: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to Ministers 
[Volume:637;Page:7471] 
8.  
KATHERINE RICH (National) 
 to the  
Minister of Education 
: Does he agree with the statements of Bali Haque Deputy Chief Executive of the New Zealand Qualifications Authority that “The examinations and marking process have gone smoothly” and that “candidates will have robust and reliable NCEA results earlier than ever before.”; if so why? 
Hon STEVE MAHAREY (Minister of Education) 
: 
 Yes; this year students sat 1.9 million papers marked by 1920 markers and watched over by 4000 exam supervisors. Students received their National Certificate of Educational Achievement (NCEA) results online and in the post on 17 January a full week ahead of last year due to system improvements. Schools have now also received 2006 NCEA interim national data—more than 1 month earlier than in 2005—and that allows schools to get on and plan their year and analyse their statistics. 
Katherine Rich 
: Can the Minister imagine the shock felt by top student Anna Wing of Northland who found “Not Achieved” on her results slip when her return paper marked “Merit” stated the opposite and explain to her why despite two requests she cannot get any corrected provisional results from the New Zealand Qualifications Authority which she wants for her university course? 
Hon STEVE MAHAREY 
: As the authority has been saying there are individual cases. If the member gives me that one straight after question time I will fix it. 
Hon Brian Donnelly 
: Has the Minister ever known a year in which there were not some glitches with external examinations despite the fact that the past system had no internal assessment in year 12; has the Minister ever known a year in which there have been fewer glitches than in 2006 despite 1.9 million papers having been required to be marked? 
Hon STEVE MAHAREY 
: The member of course has a great deal of experience in the schooling system in New Zealand and therefore would know that there have been massive improvements in this system. That is the point he is seeking to make. I have also had a large amount of experience in marking as well and I know that there are always individual issues such as the one raised by Katherine Rich just now and if she had bothered to phone me before question time that problem probably would have been fixed by now. 
Katherine Rich 
: Can he understand how the frustration felt by Jeremy Moroney of the Hawke’s Bay who had “results not available” for calculus on his slip turned to anger when the paper returned was clearly marked and graded and he too could not get the New Zealand Qualifications Authority to send out revised provisional results so that he could send them to his engineering course? 
Hon STEVE MAHAREY 
: I have from the New Zealand Qualifications Authority a four or five-page list of individual cases; out of 1.9 million scripts one would expect that each year. This has improved dramatically each year of the NCEA and I expect it to carry on improving. I say to the member that if she has individual cases that are still outstanding she could either pick up the phone and ring me or ring the chief executive who has invited anybody in the country to do that if he or she has an individual case and the problem will be fixed as rapidly as possible. 
Katherine Rich 
: Why should it take the raising of this issue to a Minister by a member of Parliament when these kids have attempted to phone the New Zealand Qualifications Authority themselves to sort it out; and when the authority has made mistakes does the Minister think these students deserve better service than the dismissive response they have received from the authority which just glibly says that mistakes happen and directs them to a website that does not have any of their internal marks on it? 
Hon STEVE MAHAREY 
: On the first point: of course it does not require this matter to be resolved in this way. The authority has been very clear about the fact that it will fix individual problems. I have now invited the member to give the problems to me and they will be fixed. 
Katherine Rich 
: Will he instruct the New Zealand Qualifications Authority to find some way of getting a full set of correct provisional results to these students and to those from other schools such as Avondale College and Logan Park High School so they can send them to their tertiary providers or put them on their CVs because the authority is telling them that they will have to wait until April or May to get their final certificates? 
Hon STEVE MAHAREY 
: If I could take one of those questions. It was the mistakes made by the Logan Park High School administration—as the member will know because she is the member for that area—that was the reason students did not get their results back not the New Zealand Qualifications Authority and not the NCEA. That is why the school was apologising in the paper. What would be quite helpful and I think this was the point raised by Mr Donnelly is that instead of people looking at NCEA to try to find the obvious one or two mistakes each year they should applaud the fact that the standards-based system which everybody in the country who understands assessments supports is now working as well as one could hope it to work in respect of 1.9 million scripts. If there are individual issues simply pick up the phone ring me and they will be fixed. The system is working. 
Katherine Rich 
: Why should it take a member of Parliament picking up the phone to ring the Minister when these students have phoned the New Zealand Qualifications Authority time and time again and got some glib response that they are to go to a website when what they want is their corrected provisional results so they can give them to their employers or their tertiary providers? 
Hon STEVE MAHAREY 
: I want to reassure the member that one does not have to go through the process of an MP raising these specific issues. I would like the member to give me the case she is talking about because her predecessor for example raised numerous cases and we could never get the details out of him. But I am hoping she will set a different way of going about this. If she raises these cases and tells us exactly what they are she will lift her own standards and we can fix them.