Kerre Woodham: Is the Knowledge Economy is the biggest political bust of recent times?

In the wake of the changes to NCEA, you would have to ask whether the Knowledge Economy is the biggest political bust of recent times?  

Back in 2001, then Prime Minister Helen Clark launched the Knowledge Wave project. Like many ideas, it came from a good place. Helen Clark had a vision for a nation which was confident, progressive, more prosperous, tolerant and which cared for its people. She said New Zealanders would ride to the Knowledge Wave because they too sought a society capable of sustaining its first world status with well educated, innovative citizens who choose to stay in New Zealand because it's the best possible place to be.  

Do you remember back to those times? They were hopeful, and she was a great Prime Minister, and it sounded fantastic. Educated, prosperous, tolerant, reasonable people. It hasn't worked out so well. In a nutshell, the government believed that New Zealand's economy and its society would be driven far more by knowledge, skill, technology, and innovation. They looked across government to see how all policies could contribute to that end. Obviously, she said at the time, education was critical. She said by addressing the worst features of the student loan scheme and stabilising tertiary fees, we aim to improve access to education for all. We will have to invest more as fast as we have the capacity to do so.  

So, educate the people, they'll become more prosperous, they'll become more tolerant. We'll have a better place to be. We'll be living in Utopia. Twenty-four years on, how are we looking? Have we ridden that Knowledge Wave to the shores of prosperity and tolerance? Hardly. Young people were steered into degrees they weren't particularly interested in. They were saddled with student loans and some of them now feel they were sold a pup. Universities went from centres for critical thinking and academic excellence to factories that churned out degrees for people who were barely literate. And far from tolerance and critical thinking, they became bastions of intolerance and Orwellian thinkspeak.   

I think the Government's decision to reform NCEA is a step in the right direction. Instead of steering people into degrees they're not particularly interested in and they don't really want to do, there will be more options, more choices about what sort of future they can have. Not everybody wants to sit in a classroom, regurgitating a lecturer's opinion. Some people actually like to get out there and do stuff. The MTA, the Motor Trades Association, James McDowell, was talking to Mike Hosking this morning, and he reckons the changes to NCEA will be an overdue step towards a more relevant practical and future focused education system for young Kiwis.  

JM: What we would very much like to see now, and it's part of the consultation process, is saying look okay, we're going to do these big core subjects, let's say in our case, an automotive subject, and we all work with the polytechs and providers like MITO that do the on job training and start them early.  

MH: So I want to be an engineer in F1. Is that how it's going to work for me? I'll do my maths, I'll do my English, and I'll do something that channels me towards that?  

JM: Yes, it's a lot like the old days. It's a lot like the old system. Or perhaps more contemporarily, more like Cambridge at the moment, where you have your core subjects. There'll be much less choice for sure. I mean that's the problem with NCEA – there's just far too much flexibility. You've got something like over 11,000 unit standards you can choose from that make up these qualifications. That's just a complete mess. You know, you might get a few credits for learning how to put oil on a car – that does not make you an automotive engineer, unfortunately.  

Absolutely. Skills Group, New Zealand's largest private vocational training provider, concurs, saying the major overhaul of NCEA will hopefully create more robust and coherent vocational pathway options, ensuring that young people can pursue valued industry related learning and develop the real-world skills demanded by industry.   

I just wonder how many bright young things we have lost to the trades because they've been stared into doing a meaningless degree where they get a B- pass, which means absolutely nothing. There are some occupations, some professions, some vocations where you will need a degree and you will enjoy it. You'll love doing the research. You'll love doing the reading. You'll love the learning. It'll be great. But not everybody is meant for that, and I think we saw back in 2001 this utopian vision that Helen Clark had, that everybody would be able to sit around and having Socratic debates with one another and i

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:06):
You're listening to the Carrywood and Morning's podcast from news Talks.

Speaker 2 (00:10):
He'd be in the wake of the changes to NCEA.
You would have to ask, would you not whether the
knowledge economy is the biggest political bust of recent times.
Back in two thousand and one, then PM Helen Clark
Nauch launched the Knowledge Wave Project. Like many ideas, it

(00:31):
came from a good place. Helen Clark had a vision
for a nation which was confident, progressive, more prosperous, tolerant,
and which cared for its people. She said New Zealanders
would ride to the Knowledge Wave because they too sought
a society capable of sustaining its first World status, with

(00:52):
well educated, innovative citizens who choose to stay in New
Zealand because it's the best possible place to be. Do
you remember, those of you who are old enough, do
you remember back to those times? They were hopeful and
she was a great Prime Minister and it sounded fantastic, educated, prosperous, tolerant,

(01:15):
reasonable people. Hasn't worked out so well? Here is it?
In a nutshell? The government believed that New Zealand's economy
and its society would be driven far more by knowledge,
skilled technology and innovation. They looked across government. There were

(01:36):
lots of committees as you can imagine, to see how
all policies could contribute to that end. Obviously, she said,
at the time, education was critical. She said, by addressing
the worst features of the student loan scheme and stabilizing
tertiary fees, we aim to improve access to education for all.

(02:00):
We will have to invest more as fast as we
have the capacity to do so. So educate the people.
They'll become more prosperous, They'll become more tolerant, will have
a better place to be. We'll be living in utopia
twenty four years on. How we look in have we
ridden that knowledge wave to the shores of prosperity and tolerance? Hardly?

(02:27):
Young people were stared into degrees that they weren't particularly
interested in. They were saddled with student loans, and some
of them now feel they were sold apop. Universities went
from centers for critical thinking and academic excellence to factories
that churned out degrees for people who were barely literate

(02:48):
and far from tolerance and critical thinking. They became bastions
of intolerance and all Willian think speak. I think the
government's decision to reform nca is a step in the
right direction over so many aspects of society. Instead of

(03:08):
staring people into degrees they're not particularly interested in they
don't really want to do, there will be more options,
more choices about what sort of future they can have.
Not everybody wants to sit in a classroom regurgitating a
lecturer's opinion. Some people actually like to get up there

(03:30):
and do stuff. The MTA, the Motor Trades Association, James
mcdale ahead of MTA, was talking to Mike Cosking this
morning and here reckons the changes to NCAA will be
an overdue step towards a more relevant, practical and future
focused education system for young kiwis what.

Speaker 3 (03:49):
We would very much like to see now, and it's
part of the consultation process is saying, look, okay, we're
going to do this big core subjects. Let's have, say,
in our case, an automotive subject, and we will work
with the polytechs and providers like MITO that do the
on job training and start them early.

Speaker 2 (04:07):
So I want to be an engineer in F one?

Speaker 3 (04:10):
Is that how it's going to work for me?

Speaker 2 (04:12):
I'll do my maths I'll do my English and I'll
do something that channels me towards that.

Speaker 3 (04:17):
Yes, it's a lot like the old day. It's a
lot like the old system, or perhaps it's more contemporarily
like more like Cambridge. At the moment where you have
your core subjects, there will be much less choice, for sure.
I mean that's the problem with nca there's just far
too much flexibility. You've got something like over eleven thousand
unit standards you can choose from that make up these qualifications.

(04:39):
That's just a complete mess. You know, you might get
a few credits for learning how to put oil in
a car. That does not make you an automotive engineer, unfortunately.

Speaker 2 (04:49):
Absolutely Skills Group, New Zealand's largest private vocational training provider, concurs,
saying the major overhaul of NCAA will hopefully create more
robust and coherent vocational pathway options, ensuring that young people
can pursue valued industry related learning and develop the real

(05:10):
world skills that demanded by industry. I would love to
hear from those of you within the trades. Do you
agree with the MTA, with the Skills Group other trades
groups as well, and say yes, this is where we're
going to see an education where young people who like

(05:31):
to get out there and do stuff, who like to
be the masters of their own destiny. They have to
suffer through an apprenticeship initially, but then they're often away
and they have their own bolts and doing stuff that
they're interested in. This, I think is going to be
a game changer for so many young people. We're not

(05:54):
all I mean, I loved I loved going to university
as a mature student, and I loved sitting there, and
I loved hearing different things and having mainly internal debates
because you had to pretty much regurgitate the lecture's opinion
to get your A plus. But I still really enjoyed it.
That's my thing. I love listening, I love talking, I

(06:15):
love research, I love fossicking around in libraries on the weekend.
Love it. It wasn't the experience I thought it was
going to be, But then I probably still thought of
universities as ivory tars of academic excellence, and they weren't.
It was still fun, but it's not for everybody. And
I just wonder how many bright young things we have

(06:37):
lost to the trades because they've been steered into doing
a meaningless degree where they get a B minus pass
which means nothing, absolutely nothing. There are some occupations, some professions,

(06:58):
some vocations where you will need a degree and you
will enjoy it. You'll love doing the research, you'll love
doing reading, you'll love the learning. It'll be great. But
not everybody is meant for that. And I think we
saw back in two thousand and one this utopian vision
that Helen Clark had that everybody would be able to

(07:20):
sit around and having socratic debates with one another in
intellectual discourse about theories and ideologies. And that's not for everybody.
And now I think we're seeing a recognition that not
everybody is cut not every young person is cut from

(07:40):
the same cloth. We need all sorts of minds, all
sorts of abilities, all sorts of passions, and all sorts
of interests. And I think by giving the trades a
greater focus, the idea of vocational education are greater focus,
we will have a more tolerant society. Not everybody's going

(08:01):
to be forced into the same little grouping, into the
aim little way of learning, way of being. I'm all
for it. How many of you have degrees that you
think is absolutely worth every cent you paid for it.

(08:23):
How many of you think if only I hadn't done
that degree. How many employers are thinking, Yes, we're finally
going to get the right people, motivated, inspired, capable people
coming into our trades and adding value.

Speaker 1 (08:40):
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