Government once again squeezing young people into one-size-fits-all model

The Green Party has serious concerns with the proposed changes to NCEA by Luxon’s Government, which will undo decades of progress towards a student-centred system.

“Luxon’s Government is squeezing our young people back into one-size-fits-all model. Anyone who has met more than one child knows that they are all different,” says the Green Party’s education spokesperson, Lawrence Xu-Nan.

“Education must be shaped by communities to meet everyone’s needs if we want our mokupuna to thrive.”

“What the Minister announced today has confirmed what people have been concerned with all along. It is ill-conceived, haphazard, and nothing short of a vanity project. If this proceeds, we will see more students falling through the gaps and being left behind.”

“Any country with a world class education system knows how important it is to work closely with the sector on any significant changes, but this Government is not interested in genuine engagement with our teachers and education experts.”

“Education is about encouraging curiosity and nurturing our future generation’s love of learning. Yet this Government has treated education as a box-ticking exercise, exposing themselves as more interested in reporting than learning. It is outrageous that the Minister implied that she wants more students to fail than to pass.”

“We have seen the harm of standardising assessment, where some students are left further behind—especially Māori, Pasifika, disabled and neurodivergent, and rural students.”

“The Green Party is committed to working with education communities, including teachers and principals, parents, and students to ensure that any change is centred on the needs and aspiration of individual students, not simply whatever employers want out of them,” says Lawrence Xu-Nan.

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