The head of the Secondary Principals' Association is defending the new-look NCEA level 1 qualification, despite some educators expressing concerns about it.
Auckland's St Cuthbert's College is the latest to announce it's ditching level 1 next year in favour of its own year 11 Diploma, following what it calls "radical" modifications.
For the majority of students in New Zealand, NCEA is their first attempt at gaining a qualification.
"My campus here [at Papatoetoe High School], we are using level 1 as an on-ramp for level 2 and the earlier our students can enjoy a credentialing success, the better they do at levels 2 and 3," said Vaughan Couillault, president of the Secondary Principals' Association.
And for some, it helps prepare them for tertiary education, both here and overseas.
But a top private girls' school fears the proposed changes to NCEA level 1 simply don't offer a rigorous, well-rounded programme.
"There are key areas of understanding that are omitted, there isn't a strong conceptual framework in many subjects and if you look particularly at English, science and maths," said St Cuthbert's College principal Justine Mahon.
"In each of those areas we consider that things have been watered down."
He told Newshub subject experts and senior academic staff have been ignored during the NZQA review process.
"We've got brilliant teachers right across the country that know what should be taught and how it should be taught, and at the moment, people are not taking heed of what they say."
Couillault is also Papatoetoe High School's principal, and he says not everyone's going to agree with the changes - that's why some schools have already opted out.
"The beauty of our system is you do have choice and so if level 1 isn't right for your cohort of kids, your learners, your community, you don't have to offer it."
Mahon is hopeful the upcoming review of levels 2 and 3 will ensure the qualification remains robust and doesn't undermine the potential of young people.
"This country needs more engineers, more doctors, more architects - it needs people who really know how to think," he said.
