 |
 |
 |
|
|
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
|||||
|
Leader's LetterSeptember 2006
Will of the People IgnoredThe decision of the Justice and Electoral Select Committee not to proceed with my Private Members Bill to reduce the number of MPs to 100 and the subsequent dismissal of the Bill from Parliament, highlights the folly of allowing self interested MPs to make decisions about their future. Despite overwhelming public support for this change, as evidenced by the submissions made to the Select Committee on the Bill, members on the Select Committee displayed total arrogance in ignoring their views and promoting their own agenda. Of the 42 submissions received, 29 supported the Bill, 12 opposed the Bill and two did not express an opinion. 
The main objection raised by those opposing the Bill was that Parliament, with fewer members, would lose the proportionality which is one of the principal benefits of the MMP system. Others believed that functions of Parliament would be adversely affected and others recommended that the number of MPs increase to 140. In New Zealand First we believe that the number of members in our Parliament is a central feature of our democracy and as such MPs simply should not ignore the weight of public opinion agitating for change. While we are disappointed that the Select Committee report has recommended the end of this Bill, New Zealand First will not give up this fight. On this issue, Parliament really should have listened to the people. Barbara Stewart MP New Zealand First there at NCEA’s BeginningMembers may not be aware but the National Certificate of Educational Achievement (NCEA) was born during the period of the National-New Zealand First Coalition government. In spite of what is often said about the good old days, at the time our system of national school qualifications was a shambles. At fifth form we had School Certificate some of which was internally assessed but most of it not so. A variety of methods of marking and scaling had been used over the years. At sixth form, the old University Entrance exam had been abolished. Sixth Form Certificate was totally internally assessed but schools were limited to awarding grades generated from students’ results in School Certificate the year before. On top of this a system of unit standards had been introduced which didn’t really fit anywhere and certainly didn’t dovetail into existing awards. The coalition government decided to establish a coherent set of qualifications for the final three years of school. Although New Zealand First was there at the birth of NCEA it was unable to guide it through its infancy. A number of decisions made after the break-up of the coalition have contributed to some of the negative stories. Unit standards, for example, were never to be blended into NCEA. As a result of the decision to do so we have the stories of students gaining credits for picking up rubbish. Scholarships were meant to have been a competitive, rigorous, norm-referenced examination for our top students in their final year at school. The decision to make it standards-based led to the unacceptable variations of two years ago. However, the biggest error in the implementation process was not resourcing it properly. National didn’t put any money aside for it and Labour didn’t pick up on this until it was too late. In 2002, the Education and Science Select Committee reported that lack of resourcing was one of the major reasons why there were so many fundamental errors in the first year of implementation. Since that time, New Zealand First has continued to recommend changes to the system in order to have it operating as it was intended to. Finally we are nearing the position where we can say we are getting on top of the issues. NCEA did not need to go through the teething problems it did. On 20th November, students began sitting NCEA external examinations for 2006. Approximately 136,000 candidates are due to sit a total of 1.9 million externally assessed NCEA standards. In each subject, every student will have a customised examination paper as different students sit different achievement standards. For each standard a Profile of Expected Performance has been established. If grades being sent in from markers, show a pattern different from this profile marking is stopped whilst the Qualifications Authority assess whether the standard is wrong, the marking schedule is wrong or other factors. All in all, this is a mammoth undertaking. What is special about 2006 is that for the first time there is widespread acknowledgment of confidence in the system. New Zealand leads the world with NCEA. It has been a long struggle to get it where it is and there are still improvements to be made. However, I am really pleased that New Zealand First was there at its birth. Brian Donnelly MP
|
|
|||
|
|
||