Secondary school teachers are calling for a revamp after thousands of students failed new literacy and numeracy tests.
Statistics from the most recent round of testing found that out of 55,468 students who took the test, a staggering 30,196 or 54% failed to pass.
Secondary Principals’ Association president Vaughn Couillault said now is the time for a rethink.
“I’d say that, in general, we’re concerned about the co-requisites and the fact that they may be creating a larger problem than the one we were trying to solve regarding functional literacy and numeracy.”
The tests were introduced at the same time as changes to NCEA Level 1 standards, which schools found more difficult to work with than expected, he said.
Of those 55,000 students who took the tests, the highest pass rates were from those sitting exams for the first time; other year groups, testing for the second or third time around, had higher failure rates.
