KEY POINTS:
Girls have again done better than boys in the national exams.
Official figures released yesterday showed the "gender gap" was widest in the final year of school, with 60 per cent of girls nationally getting NCEA Level 3 in Year 13 last year compared with just 46 per cent of boys.
Joseph Driessen, who runs an international consultancy on boys' education, said the findings on the difference between the results of boys and girls were disappointing.
"At the moment many schools individually are making an attempt," he said.
"Boys will continue to underachieve in our national school system unless the Government makes a considered effort to help address the gender gap."
The New Zealand Qualifications Authority said the gap between the performance of girls and boys widens between Year 11 and Year 12.
It noted the difference in achievement between the sexes had been largely stable over the past fewyears.
Taking into account results from both sexes, the proportion of students getting NCEA overall rose.
The proportion of students meeting the Level 1 literacy requirement went from 69.8 per cent in 2004 to 76.8 per cent last year.
For the Level 1 numeracy requirement, it went from 75.6 per cent in 2004 to 84.5 per cent last year.
While Pakeha and Asian students did better, the achievement rates of Maori and Pacific students increased over the past two years.
School-by-school figures giving the breakdown of how each school's results stack up against the national average will be made public on Monday.
NZQA deputy chief executive Bali Haque said the new statistics provided useful information for schools and teachers in planning the year. But he cautioned against using the data to compare schools.
"Factors such as decile, roll numbers and make-up, courses offered and course design are specific to each school and these influence a school's statistics."
The NCEA has come under fire since it was introduced about six years ago, with criticism including that it was too easy, favoured girls, and produced inconsistent results.
Among a package of reforms announced in May last year were the introduction of merit and excellence certificate endorsements aimed at better motivating students and more policing of internal assessment.
Some high schools offer an alternative qualification, such as the Cambridge exams or the International Baccalaureate.
