Further Evidence We're Overtaxed...
The NZQA just can't help itself.
A month ago, new Acting Chief Executive Karen Sewell, taking over from embattled NZQA Chief Karen Van Rooyen, announced that a culture change at NZQA was needed.
Apparently, Sewell's succeeded already. Despite NZQA not being put to the test, in a nationwide taxpayer-funded publicity campaign aimed at the parents of Years 11-13 students, the Qualifications Authority claims to have fixed the scholarship problems of last year. Further, the correspondence boasts, the NCEA "encourages excellence", and "gives schools greater flexibility and diversity".
Ah, we can all give a sigh of relief. The Qualifications Framework is now all fixed. We know this because the people responsible for delivering the Qualifications Framework say it is so.
Thanks for that, Karen. Outstanding work on your part, by managing to tidy up the mess in just a month. Further kudos to you, in having the political sensibility to make that announcement in a massive taxpayer-funded move, right at the crux of the campaign.
Of course, we shouldn't listen to Bill English, who questions the appropriateness of a government department making such politically charged announcements, using taxpayer's money, just as the campaign is getting really hot. After all, whoever heard of politically-unbalanced officials in the Education sector?
Instead, Karen, we should be thanking you for taking such a pressing political issue off our minds.
3 comments:
Another 'job for the girls' in the appointment of Karen Sewell as CRO for the NZQA.
This is the same Karen Sewell who presided for 12 years as principal at Green Bay College in Auckland and saw it's roll crash through the floor as Ms Sewell's Liberal-Left agenda saw academic results plummet and parents simply moved their kids to other schools to ensure a higher standard of education. The School was rarely out of the paper in the 80s and early 90s as story after story emerged of PCness and overall lacklustre performance and strong parental dissatisfaction. Remember Gren Bay is smack in the middle of the 'Greenie'belt in Auckland and if the school was pissing off all the Labour voters out there, you can only imagine how bad it must have been.
This is the same Karen Sewell who was in charge of ERO - and allowed the likes of Cambridge High School to be given a clean bill of educational health for years before the media sprang their dodgy methods to ensure 100% NCEA pass rate.
Allan Peachey, principal of hugely successful and popular Rangitoto College and standing in this election for National in Tamaki, has publicly spoken of the personal vendetta he believes ERO hatched on him with the blessing of Sewell, to undermine him as a principal. I believe he goes into more detail in his biography.
So here we have a women who has run a failed school, has been selective in how she oversaw ERO work and attacked successful schools and now she is in charge of the NZQA which dishes out heaps of lame 'approved' courses like Labour dishes out Union-backed election propaganda.
If she wasn't part of the Labour Party sisterhood, there is no way the Public Service could keep her on.
You could only imagine the outcry from the Lefties if one of the Centre-Right parties kept employing a party hack despite a shocking track record such as Sewell's.
I will wait with mute horror to see how she will be tampering and meddling further with the NCEA, to completely destroy any credibility and confidence NZ has in the system.
OTOH, folks, how best to remind a nationload of anxious parents a few months before the next round of exams, about last years' sorry saga?
Why, send them a nice expensive glossy, assuring them it's all fixed now....one week before a tightrope election.
I think our tax dollars just might have done us proud this time. Bwahaha etc.
Right on Sally This woman is part of a left wing cabal that has hijacked our education system The NZQA charge obscene amounts of money to approve courses Those that fall into the "Approved" category receive the cost of the fees Other have to come up with what amounts to a blank cheque to pay for the approval process.Its a corrupt little organisation and needs a through Audit to clean it up
gd
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