Māori-medium education leaders are expressing concern over the Government’s proposal to scrap NCEA and replace it with a new national qualification system. However, there is cautious optimism.
Some within the sector see the reforms as an opportunity, but only if Māori are genuinely included in shaping the changes.
Leaders from kura kaupapa, kura ā iwi, and other Māori-medium education providers are calling for meaningful consultation within the short time frame to explore how a replacement system could better serve mokopuna Māori across the sector.
On Monday, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Education Minister Erica Stanford announced plans to replace NCEA Levels 1 to 3 with a new set of qualifications and a national curriculum for Years 9 to 13.
The overhaul is aimed at making secondary school qualifications clearer, more rigorous, and better aligned with skills needed for tertiary education and the workforce.
Stanford said the current system had become overly flexible and inconsistent.
“While it has delivered in some areas, we have heard and seen that the flexibility has gone too far, and that the complexity has masked poor performance.”
Māori education advocates say the announcement leaves many unanswered questions.
They warn that success in Māori-medium education could be disrupted if the reforms do not account for kaupapa Māori approaches.
Rawiri Wright, co-chair of Te Rūnanganui o ngā Kura Kaupapa Māori and tumuaki of Te Kura Kaupapa Māori o Ngā Mokopuna in Wellington, said the announcement prompted a myriad of questions.
“Ka pehea mō te taha ki te reo Māori? Ka pehea mō te whakarauoratanga o te marautanga o Te Aho Matua?” he asked. “What about te reo Māori? What about the survival of the Te Aho Matua curriculum?”
Wright noted that kura kaupapa Māori students have only recently begun to consistently excel in national qualifications.
“Kātahi anō ngā kura kaupapa Māori ka eke rawa atu ki roto i ērā whakawhiwhinga tohu mātauranga – and now the rules of the game have changed.”
“We do accept that some change is necessary. But for us, it comes down to: give us the resources. We will develop and we will come up with something that is akin to what they’re thinking about.”
According to NZQA data from 2024, kaupapa Māori students outperformed their peers across nearly every metric. Sixty-three percent of kura kaupapa students attained NCEA Level 1, compared to 54 percent across all Māori students.
At Levels 2 and 3, kura students achieved 72 and 73 percent respectively — well above national Māori averages — and 41 percent gained University Entrance, significantly higher than the 24 percent rate for all students and more than double the 18 percent rate for Māori in English-medium schools.
Leaders say these gains reflect the success of a kaupapa Māori approach, but they also highlight long-standing inequities for Māori students in mainstream education.
Hukarere Greening, Te Kura Māori o Porirua tumuaki, described the policy shift as another wave of disruption in a space already shaped by ongoing change.
“E kore rawa ēnei ngaru nui e oti. Kei reira tonu e ngaru mai ana, e ngaru mai ana kia pā anō ki te ao o te tamaiti. Nō reira koina pea ngā uauatanga, ko te whakarerekē i tēnei tohu i ia wā ka hou mai he kāwanatanga hou.”
Under the proposed changes, NCEA Level 1 would be removed, Levels 2 and 3 would be replaced by two new qualifications, and a foundational literacy and numeracy assessment would be introduced. Students would need to pass four out of five subjects to receive a certificate, with results marked out of 100 and graded from A to E.
Labour’s education spokesperson, Willow-Jean Prime, said the lack of clarity around the proposal and the short consultation period is deeply concerning.
“Kāhore mātou e mōhio ana i te whānui me te hōhonutanga o wērā whakaritenga… he nui ngā pātai mō tēnei minita me te kāwanatanga e pā ana ki tēnei whakarerekētanga mō wā tātou tamariki mokopuna.”
Consultation is now open until 1 September, which leaves only 6 weeks, something Prime says will make it hard to have a meaningful consultation.
“He tino poto te wā mō ngā tono e pā ana ki tēnei panonitanga, e ono wiki noa iho ki te whakamōhio atu i ngā whakaaro e pā ana ki tēnei, anō nei he survey monkey kei runga i te ipurangi, nō reira pēhea te whānui me te hōhonu o te kōrero?”
“Kāhore ahau e tino whakapono ana. Kua rongo ahau i ētahi kōrero, kua mutu kē, kua oti kē te whakatau. Ko taku tūmanako ka tino kōrero, ka tino whakarongo ki ngā kōrero ka puta mai i roto i ēnei ono wiki.”
As the reforms move through consultation, Te Rūnanganui o ngā Kura Kaupapa Māori, Kura ā Iwi, Māori-medium providers, and advocates for Māori learners in mainstream settings are mobilising to ensure their students and whānau are not only heard but embedded in the future of secondary education.
Hukarere Greening says this is a moment for Māori to shape the system, not be sidelined by it.
“Me aha tātou ināianei? Me kaha tonu tātou ki te wero i te kāwanatanga, i ngā minita mātauranga, ngā minita o te wā… ki te whakarongo mai.
“Mēnā rā kei a tātou ērā rangatira e tū hei kanohi, hei māngai ki te waha i ēnei kaupapa i ēnei wā nei, ka whakarongo.”
Wright echoed the sentiment, emphasising the importance of a Māori-led pathway in any new framework.
“No parent I know does not want their tamariki to be able to read, write, and do arithmetic. No one, whether it’s in Māori or whether it’s in English. We are all the same. We agree with the principle,” he said.
“But the pathway? There has to be greater flexibility. And there has to be an opportunity for a Māori-led, kaupapa Māori pathway within it.”
The Government says the new curriculum will begin in 2026, with further stages to follow. During the transition period, schools will operate under either NCEA or the new system.
