CONSULTATION SOUGHT ON NATIONAL QUALIFICATIONS FRAMEWORK

A consultation paper released today by Education Minister Wyatt Creech sets out proposals for advancing New Zealand's qualifications into the 21st Century.

"To date there has been considerable disagreement and concern about developments with the National Qualifications Framework (NQF)," Mr Creech said.

"The Green Paper is designed to present for public input a broad, inclusive and practical solution."

Mr Creech said qualifications, which recognise students' skills and knowledge, are increasingly important in determining students' employment prospects and signal to employers evidence of a person's abilities.

``If New Zealand is to compete at an international level, we need a full range of qualifications that are durable and credible to students and employers.

``The Green Paper recommends that all qualifications, be they unit standards, degrees, qualifications based on school exams such as School Certificate and University Bursaries, or other non-unit standard qualifications, should be capable of registration on the National Qualifications Framework," Mr Creech said.

The Green Paper proposes that quality be the main criteria for determining if a qualification is registered on the Framework. To be registered, the qualification would need to be verified by an external body.

The New Zealand Qualifications Authority would assume the role of independent overall guardian of quality.

The NZQA would have the power to delegate its approval functions to other organisations where they have the appropriate skills to approve NQF qualifications.

A requirement to specify outcomes of qualifications will enable comparability between qualifications.

"A lot of work has gone into finding a way through the difficult issues surrounding the Qualifications Framework. This has not been an easy exercise.

Clearly strong feelings are involved in various parts of the sector. The Government believes that requiring all qualifications to meet a quality test is the best way to develop an inclusive approach to the Framework which is acceptable to all."

The Government is seeking wide input on the qualifications proposals.

Submissions close on September 1 1997.

The submissions will be analysed and used to developed final Government policy which will be published in a White Paper due in December.

Ends Copies of the green paper are available from the Ministry of Education, the NZQA, and the Education & Training Support Agency. It is also available of the internet on http://www.minedu.govt.nz/data/NQF.