As a Year 11 student currently taking NCEA, I can offer firsthand insight into how the system works in practice and how effective it really is.
When NCEA was implemented in 2002 (eight years before I was born!), it was plagued with issues. Any new assessment system will invariably have teething problems, and teachers already have enough to deal with, let alone managing another, entirely new system of assessment.
The decision to tear up NCEA can only be described as change for change's sake. There is no reason that our entire assessment framework should be torn up. Our national assessment framework can be amended without changing its fundamental nature.
That's not to say that NCEA is perfect - It isn't. But the solution lies in targeted, logical reform, not complete reinvention. Students, whānau, teachers and schools have spent over 20 years adapting to and giving feedback on NCEA. To discard all that knowledge is not only wasteful, but risks destabilising student outcomes in one of the most formative points in our education. What's needed is a logical, thoughtful, evidence-based approach that strengthens what already works while addressing the parts that don't.
NCEA offers flexibility - a wide range of standards across a huge number of subjects, space for both internal and external assessment, and the freedom for students to play to their strengths. For many students, including those who otherwise wouldn't perform well in high-stakes, high-pressure exams, this flexibility and freedom isn't a flaw. It's very much a strength. It allows for differentiated learning and real-world application that a purely exam-based system wouldn't accommodate.
Instead of completely overhauling NCEA, we should improve the parts that need it. Provide better moderation and consistency across schools. Recruit more teachers to help those already managing astronomical workloads. Strengthen pathways from school to further education, training, or employment. These are the kinds of changes that would make a real difference without jeopardising what already works, and by extension, our entire assessment framework.
As a student living through these changes, I want, no, I need, a system that is fair, stable and responsive. Not one that's redesigned from the ground up every two decades. Keep NCEA. Fix what's broken. Don't break what's working.