U.E. to stay, no soft options — Minister

Press, 26 April 1984, Page 8

U.E. to stay, no soft options — Minister

PA Wellington The University Entrance examination will not change, said the Minister of Education. Mr Wellington vesterdav.

“I do not want a smorgasbord education with soft options and soap," he said in reply to a cal! for the Sixth Form Certificate to be the only examination in Form 6.

Dismantling in part or in full, of the structured examination system in other countries had lead to a sharp decline in standards, he said.

“The flight from structured learning leads to disaster. I do not propose to preside over a decline in New Zealand's educational standards.”

Mr Wellington said that a report calling for changes in the education system by the Association of University Teachers, had been devised by groups collaborating to create a simulated consensus.

Ms Heather Simpson the national president of the Association of University Teachers, said that the report had been a consensus document drawn up after a meeting of interested parties. It had been presented to the Government caucus committee on education on April 11.

The association had called a meeting in Wellington in March as it believed that the present impasse on the University Entrance debate did not reflect attitudes held, Ms Simpson said. “The resulting document confirms that there is unanimous agreement among the parties involved that the Sixth Form Certificate should be the only qualification granted at the end of the sixth form year,” she said.

Representatives of the Association of Heads of Independent and Integrated Secondary Schools, the Employers’ ’ Federation, the Federation of Labour, the Parent Teachers’ Associa-

tion, the Post-Primary Teachers' Association, the Secondary School Boards’ Association, and the University Students’ Association had met to establish the degree to which a consensus existed, she said.

An internally assessed and nationally’ moderated Sixth Form Certificate should provide direct entry to university from Form 6 but most students should go to university after a Form 7 year, the meeting had agreed. Certificate grades could be used by the different bodies in a manner suitable to their own needs.

Adequate methods of moderation and assessment to ensure academic and practical ability were evaluated would be needed. Any changes would need careful assessment to ensure that no-one, such as those from lower income groups, was disadvantaged, the report said.

Mr Wellington, was challenged last evening to produce a representative group which supported his decision to retain the University Entrance examination in Form 6.

The national president of the Post-Primary Teachers' Association, Mr Tony Steel, said that Mr Wellington’s rejection of the report’s finding by accusing the groups of "collaborating to create a simulated consensus” was “arrant nonsense.”

The groups had attended the meeting of their own free will and had found they shared the belief that the Sixth Form Certificate should be the only award in the sixth form year. “I challenge the Minister to produce one group of similar status that supports his stance,” Mr Steel said. “The Minister’s already shaky credibility has been dealt a further blow by his attempt to suggest these groups are non-representa-tive.”