Poor leadership to blame for NZQA failures, report finds

Education Minister Trevor Mallard said problems were being addressed. File picture

An inquiry into problems with secondary school exams blames unstable leadership and poor communication at the New Zealand Qualification Authority (NZQA).

The second State Service Commission review of the education system said the leadership failures helped to create a lack of consistency in marks.

It also said, following its investigation into NZQA and the National Certificate of Educational Achievement (NCEA), that the authority tried to do too much too quickly.

Former chief executive Karen Van Rooyen and board chairman Graeme Fraser resigned from the authority in May following an outcry over last year's results.

Instability due to having eight chief executives in as many years had led to considerable damage, the review said.

It added: "The implementation path chosen by NZQA... has been too steep."

Teachers, examiners and markers were asked to interpret standards before they were ready and this led to unacceptable variability in results.

Education Minister Trevor Mallard welcomed the review, saying it showed most people back the system.

He said: "The report highlights a number of areas where work needs to be done, and I am pleased that its recommendations are either already being addressed or about to be addressed.

"The inquiry found that the majority of schools and stakeholders believe that NCEA is improving learning for students and improving teaching practice."

He added: "We are moving on, and education agencies are committed to ongoing improvements in delivering NCEA."

Mr Mallard said variations of results were being tackled and noted that the review team recommended the implementation of NCEA should be extended over five years or more.

The recruitment process for a new chief executive has begun, following the appointment in June of Karen Sewell as acting chief executive.

- NZPA, HERALD ONLINE STAFF