Some teens in alternative education have earned literacy and numeracy standards that will not count toward NCEA qualifications if they return to regular schools. Photo: 123RF
An unknown number of teens in health schools and alternative education have earned literacy and numeracy standards that will not count toward NCEA qualifications if they return to regular schools.
The mother of a Wellington teen caught out by the rule, Jessica Hammond, told RNZ her daughter had described the policy as "ableist bullshit" and was angry her work at a health school last term was wasted effort.
The standards were unit standards that tertiary institutes and settings such as teen parent units and health schools were allowed to use for NCEA purposes until 2027.
Hammond said she was shocked when the school told her the standards would not count for the NCEA literacy and numeracy requirement if her daughter returned to a regular school.
"I was sobbing and then I basically didn't want to tell her over the school holidays because she was so proud of herself for having worked so hard to have achieved what she has and so I waited until the last minute before school started back to tell her," she said.
"I said I'm still hoping that it's some sort of mistake because I just feel like it just can't be right. But she was basically angry. We're still hoping that the minister or the ministry will turn around and say 'oh no, no, we hadn't thought this through' or 'it's a mistake'. It's pretty upsetting."
Hammond said the standards represented a lot of work for her Year 11 daughter.
"My daughter had just finished everything for the literacy corequisites just before Easter and has nearly finished the requirements for the numeracy ones," Hammond said.
"Because health school is maybe four or five teaching hours a week, it takes a really long time to chip away at those sorts of educational achievements and they have to really prioritise what they're going to work on. So for her it's like a year's work basically."
Hammond said she was worried other young people would be affected too.
"There must be others that are in the same situation," she said.
The Education Ministry said education providers such as teen parent units and tertiary institutions were allowed to use a group of literacy and numeracy unit standards known as the 266 series until 2027.
The ministry said the exemption was granted to give the providers time to adjust to new literacy and numeracy standards, which students must complete before they could receive any NCEA qualifications.
"The rationale behind this distinction is that these education providers have been mostly reliant on the 266 series in the past and have not been accessing the existing achievement standards, unlike mainstream schools," the ministry told RNZ in a statement.
"Tertiary and alternative education settings usually don't assess students with achievement standards, so keeping the 266 standards available during this time helps avoid disruption. It ensures that students in these settings aren't unfairly affected while the new NCEA standards are being introduced."
It said the standards did not count if students returned to a regular secondary school.
"In this case, on re-enrolling in their mainstream school, the 266 standards will remain on the student's NZ Record of Achievement, but the 266 credits will not be credited towards the NCEA Co-requisite. However, we are aware that some students' unique circumstances may warrant individual consideration, which could apply in this particular case."
An email to Hammond from the Central Regional Health School earlier this year said the ministry had changed its criteria for using the unit standards.
"Now if any student, transitions back to school they will need to sit the common assessment activity (CAA'S) path and regain those credits. Unit standard credits are held if the student transitions to a course such as at Yoobee, Weltec or the like," the email said.
"It is frustrating to have changing sands like this. We are assured the Health Schools in Aotearoa are continuing conversation of this situation with MOE."
The Central Regional Health School told RNZ it was working with the Education Ministry to find a solution that would ensure students were not disadvantaged.
There were three regional health schools, which enrolled students who could not attend a regular school because of a health condition.
Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero, a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
