Scholarship update

The Ministry of Education and NZQA are working together to get information out to teachers regarding how Scholarship is going to work this year.

National Road Show

During July a national road show was held for senior teachers. It covered a range of technical matters relating to external assessment and to Scholarship particularly.

Acting Chief Executive Karen Sewell said the road show was part of a wider programme with the Ministry of Education to provide information and resources to prepare everyone well for Scholarship 2005.

"They were very well attended throughout the country and I think teachers took advantage of being able to clarify things and appreciated the chance to get immediate answers to questions," Karen Sewell said.

"The Scholarship Reference Group, which reported to government on issues about Scholarship 2004, made a number of recommendations about how Scholarship should operate this year. The road show was aimed at explaining the changes to teachers and providing them with the technical information they need to prepare their top students for the exams," said Karen Sewell.

"There will be more certainty and greater consistency in the proportion of Scholarships awarded across subjects this year.

Collaboration with Ministry of Education

"We have been working very closely with the Ministry of Education and expert teachers over the past few months to implement the changes. There is a joint approach to communicating with parents, students and schools," said Karen Sewell.

The Ministry has been running regional seminars for principals and Boards of Trustees, regular circulars are being sent by NZQA to schools, and technical subject information is available on www.nzqa.govt.nz.

E-mail service for teachers

An email service has been created on the NZQA website so that teachers can receive email advice when changes have occurred to standards. Teachers can register for this service at http://www.nzqa.govt.nz/news/website-updates/subscribe.html. Teachers can also register to receive Scholarship circulars at http://www.nzqa.govt.nz/scholarship

Direct contact with parents and students

Information and brochures are being sent directly to parents and students to explain Scholarship and tell them where they can get more information.

Independent assessment advisors

Independent assessment experts are providing NZQA with advice, to help achieve consistency, certainty and assurance of the validity of Scholarship results, said Karen Sewell.