Perspective with Heather du Plessis-Allan: Porirua College shouldn't give up on students

Today, the 9th of September, is the start of a fortnight of NCEA pupils across the country sitting their exams for first time.

They'll be doing reading, writing and numeracy exams.

I would say this is happening everywhere across the country - except it isn’t, because Porirua College has decided to cancel their literacy exams because the kids won't pass.

They're not ready, the principal says Porirua College hasn't been able to get the kids ready enough to make it a 'positive experience' and so they've just canned the reading and writing exams.

Now, this is not the end of the world. These exams aren’t compulsory this year, they're only compulsory from 2026. This year, the kids can make up the credits through other ways if they want to pass NCEA.

But what I'm really disappointed by is the attitude of just giving up on kids.

These aren't difficult tests designed for third year university students or fully grown adults, they are designed for year 10/year 11 kids to make sure they actually know what they need to know at their year level.

So if the kids fail, it's because they don't know what they're supposed to know for their age. The answer to that particular problem is not to cancel the exam - the answer is to teach the kids what they're supposed to know.

Which begs the question - why is Porirua College not teaching the kids what they’re supposed to know for their age? Does that go some way to explaining why at Porirua College only 28 percent of school leavers got NCEA level 3 in 2022? Do we have a problem here?

Why isn’t the school freaking out that the kids don't know what kids at other schools know?

I've been told that, actually, most teachers and principals in secondary schools support these exams and the complaining and resistance that we’re hearing is coming from a very loud minority. I hope that truly is the case.

Because I'm shocked that these kids don't know what they’re supposed to know, but I'm more shocked that their educators don't seem to think that’s a problem.

Meanwhile, outside of Porirua, other kids up and down the country will sit these exams and will pass because they've been taught what they’re supposed to know - which is how it's supposed to be.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
So today, ninth of September is the start of a
fortnight of the NCAA. Pupils across the country sitting their
exams for the first time. They'll be doing reading, writing,
in numeracy exams. And I would say that this would
be happening at every single school across the country, but
actually it isn't because Portado A College has decided to
cancel their literacy exams, haven't they And they've done that

(00:20):
because the kids won't pass. They're not ready. Apparently, the
principle says porterdo A College hasn't been able to get
the kids ready enough to make these exams a positive experience,
and so they've just canned the reading and writing exams.
They're still doing the numeracy ones, but the others are gone. Now, look,
it's not the end of the world. Okay, these exams
aren't compulsory this year. They're only compulsory in a couple

(00:43):
of years time. This year, the kids can make up
the credit through other ways if they don't do the exams,
so that they can still pass NCEEA. But what I'm
kind of continuously shocked by is the attitude that educators
have of just giving up on the kids. These aren't
difficult tests. They're not designed mean for third year university students,
will fully grown adults. They're not supposed to stretch the kids.

(01:06):
They are designed for year ten, year eleven kids, and
they are designed to make sure that the kids actually
know what they are supposed to know at their point
in their schooling. So if the kids fail, it's because
they don't know what they're supposed to know for their age.
The answer to that particular problem is not to cancel

(01:26):
the exam, And the answer to that particular problem is
to teach the kids what they're supposed to know, so
they know what all the other kids around the country know.
Do you know what I mean? It begs the question
why is put it to a college? Not teaching the
kids what they're supposed to know for their age? Does
that maybe go some way to explaining why at put
it to a college? In twenty twenty two, only twenty

(01:46):
eight percent of school leavers got NCEEA level three. Do
we have a little problem here? Maybe? Why isn't the
school freaking out about this that the kids don't know
what kids at other schools know? Now lately, because the
exams have kicked in and the lead up to these
exams and the first time these exams have kicked in
and stuff, we have had a lot of complaining from educators.

(02:07):
I've been told that actually, most teachers and principles and
secondary schools do support these exams, and the complaining and
the resistance that we're hearing in public is coming from
a very loud minority. Now, I truly hope that that
actually is the case, because I am shocked on two fronts.
Number one, that these kids do not know what they're
supposed to know for their age, and number two, more
shocked that their educators don't seem to think that that's

(02:29):
a massive problem. Meanwhile, outside of Portadour, up and down
the country, kids will sit these exams and they will
pass because they have been taught what they're supposed to know,
which is how it's supposed to be. For more from
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