September 19th, 2024
Starting next year, all school leavers in New Zealand with NCEA will be required to have minimum maths and literacy skills through a new assessment, as other changes to NCEA and the national curriculum are delayed, according to Education Minister Jan Tinetti.
The new NCEA Level 1 will be fully implemented in 2024 as planned, while Level 2 will now be implemented in 2026 (instead of 2025), and Level 3 in 2027 (instead of 2026).
The decision follows feedback from teachers, principals, and the NCEA Professional Advisory Group (PAG), which recommended the changes.
Minister Tinetti emphasised on Wednesday that importance of ensuring students have a strong foundation in maths and literacy, stating that currently there are over 500 maths and 100 literacy standards. From next year, a list of essential and foundational maths and literacy assessment standards will be introduced, which students must achieve to pass NCEA.
In order to ease the pressure on teachers, the wider implementation of NCEA Levels 2 and 3 will be slowed down, and the focus will be on refreshing the curriculum. The government will prioritise mathematics, English, te reo Māori, and pāngarau areas of the curriculum by deferring the requirement for schools to implement other areas by one year. The curriculum redesign will continue on existing timeframes and be available to all schools from 2026, but teaching it won't be compulsory until 2027.
The delay aims to help teachers and students recover from three years of COVID-19 disruptions, allowing for a sense of normalcy and focus on what matters most to families. Representatives of over 21,000 teachers and principals have expressed support for the adjusted timeline, stating it will give schools more time to build capacity and prepare for the changes.
The refresh of the mathematics, English, te reo Māori, and pāngarau areas of the national schooling curricula will be prioritised by deferring the requirement for schools to implement other areas by one year, except for Aotearoa New Zealand Histories and Te Takanga o Te Wā, which are already required. The refresh of the New Zealand Curriculum and redesign of Te Marautanga o Aotearoa will continue on existing timelines, so schools can start using the new curriculum content before it becomes mandatory in 2027.
To support the focus on maths and literacy, there will be 31 new Curriculum Leaders working across the country and a team of 30 NCEA Implementation Facilitators recruited regionally to support teachers and kaiako at qualification and subject levels.