The PSA warned NZQA management during a restructure in August this year that exam delivery would be impacted by the cuts to the Assessment Division team.
A technical issue this morning with NZQA’s online system prevented hundreds of students from sitting their NCEA Level 2 English exam.
“Today’s failure is another example of how National’s reckless approach to the public sector doesn’t create efficiencies, it weakens the public services we all rely on – including our teenagers,” Public Service Association Te Pūkenga Here Tikanga Mahi National Secretary, Fleur Fitzsimons, said.
“This is chickens coming home to roost, our warnings were ignored. As part of the union’s submission on this year’s restructure, workers said loud and clear that the cuts to the team would fragment responsibility, weaken coordination, and ultimately impact on delivery of exams. They were ignored.”
The proposal to restructure NZQA’s Assessment Division this year on 15 July this year. The PSA submission on the restructure, dated 4 August, strongly opposed any cuts to the division and questioned the rationale on breaking up the high-performing Exam Centre Management team.
“Today’s technical failures are incredibly frustrating for NZQA workers, who are totally committed to making sure students can sit the exams they have worked hard towards all year.
“NZQA has gone through three restructures in three years under the previous coalition government, leaving no team at the agency untouched. There are only so many cuts you can make until the system cracks under the pressure.
“This again shows why agencies must undertake a public good test before any restructures are proposed so they can be weighed against the impact on workers and the communities they serve.
“If the caretaker government gets a mandate to govern again, these failures will only happen again and again if it continues to ignore the consequences of its campaign of cuts to the public service.”
