Kerry Howe: At university the clock starts again

Kerry Howe

When I enter a first-year class at the beginning of each semester, there is a sea of expectant faces. I have no idea who anybody is, although I might learn many of their names. But I never have any idea of who has an NCEA scholarship, or what achievements any of the students gained during their school years.

Anyway, any New Zealand citizen over the age of 20 can enrol at a university without any formal qualifications.

The whole schools' qualifications structure matters little at university - students at university either do well, or not so well. I'm unaware of any research that links success at university with success at school. And I'm certainly not aware as a university teacher - for more than 30 years - that recent school leavers are any more or less prepared for university coming through an NCEA system than the one it replaced.

First-year classes are extraordinarily diverse these days, with larger numbers of adult students - many of whom might not have been in a classroom for decades - and the now ubiquitous international students.

They pass or fail depending on what effort they put in.

Students with a hitherto poor academic record, or none at all, might excel at university, or the reverse. At some point students may complete degrees and these, not school qualifications, will be the basis for any life opportunities.

I'm not saying NCEA or any other school assessing system is irrelevant, but on starting university the clock starts again, so to speak.

For those who do not go on to university, the school qualification, whatever it might be, is clearly more critical for employment prospects. But let's try to get beyond media hype about what is depicted as the cosmic significance of NCEA.

NCEA, or any other end-of-school qualification, is now essentially a commodity with enormous commercial, institutional, ideological and political investment. It has the capacity to operate as a "system" for its own sake rather than for the benefit of students.

After all, in our modern world, real education starts rather than stops at about the age of 16 or 17.

* K. R. Howe is Professor of History, Massey University, Albany campus.