If they can't pass just make the test easier. That was the Education Ministry response to high failure rates in new High School literacy and numeracy tests.
Documents obtained by RNZ show the Education Ministry and Qualifications Authority have been at loggerheads after the Education Ministry told the authority in October its design of the tests might have disadvantaged many students, contributing to a 66 percent failure rate in the writing test.
The authority dismissed the ministry's fears and suggested the ministry was not respecting the authority's expertise.
Education correspondent John Gerritsen spoke to Corin Dann.
