One of the supposed strengths of NCEA is that it shows what pupils know and that should be helpful to employers.
In our experience it’s not.
In the old system we could look at results and see percentage marks which would tell us quite a bit about an applicant’s ability to read, write, remember and reason.
The new system has far too much information much of which means nothing to anyone outside the education system and most of which is irrelevant to employers.
Even in practical subjects it’s not as much help as it should be. It appears the ability to explain what you’re doing has too much weight and in farming many of theyoung people we employ are better at what they do than explaining why and how they do it.
That’s not to say the ability to communicate and explain isn’t important. It is, but often young people in general and young blokes in particular, haven’t learned to do that yet.
The old system was far from perfect but I’m yet to be convinced the new one is any better.
