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NCEA could help employers judge students' specific strengths and weaknesses when they fronted up for jobs, Business New Zealand chief executive Phil O'Reilly said today.
Secondary schools are coming under pressure from parents to offer overseas exams which rank students, and some are using the Cambridge International Exams.
The exams are written and marked before being sent to the UK for moderation and accreditation by Cambridge International, a worldwide exam system developed by a branch of Cambridge University.
Education Minister Steve Maharey said yesterday about 37 of the country's 400-odd secondary schools were offering alternative exams or were considering doing so, and there was nothing to stop them.
But he told Radio New Zealand the exams did not have any relevance to New Zealand and, unlike the NCEA, had not been designed for New Zealand.
"When it comes down to preparing a person for the real world of work and further study, I don't think it does the same job as NCEA at all."
Mr O'Reilly said Business NZ was concerned the Cambridge exams would give students passes and fails but say little about what else they had learned while at school.
He said the old system that saw students front up at a business saying they had 51 per cent in School Certificate English was an "almost hopeless' situation in today's world because it meant employers had no idea what the potential employee was good at or bad at.
"The concern that we have with the Cambridge system is that it could deliver the same sorts of outcomes. Employers won't be aware of what it offers, they're less likely to be aware of the nuances of that kind of qualification system.
"So, if you can get NCEA right then it's got the possibilities of being a very good qualification because it gives employers news they can use, it tells you what a student's good at."
Employers' concerns with NCEA included that some students could take the easy subjects in order to get the qualification while other good students might do what they needed to at the start of the year and "cruise" for the rest of the year.
NCEA was a good system but needed to be tidied up, Mr O'Reilly said.
- NZPA
