Erica Stanford: Education Minister on NCEA test concerns, cost of building new school buildings

The Education Minister says there's no argument for getting rid of some NCEA tests over fears some students will end up with no credits. 

RNZ reports principals from some of the country's poorest communities, want the Government to scrap new reading, writing, and maths tests. 

They say a number of Māori or Pacific students could end up leaving school without a qualification. 

Erica Stanford told Mike Hosking she is aware of every single student in that situation and is doing everything she can to turn it around. 

She says they've put in millions of dollars of targeted support to get them across the line. 

Stanford also says she’s cut through the bureaucracy to building school property after a ministerial inquiry found the old model was inefficient and unfit for purpose. 

The Education Minister says since then, there's been a 35% increase in the number of standard buildings delivered, and a 28% reduction in the average cost of each classroom. 

She told Hosking the results of the new model have been obvious. 

Stanford says at Wellington Girls they built four two-storey blocks with 14 classrooms in 12 weeks, for $50 thousand each. 

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