Larry Williams Drive

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 kn