Parents of students across Aotearoa will be stoked with news of their NCEA fees being scrapped this morning with previously withheld credits or qualifications now being awarded.
The news comes after the government's Wellbeing Budget decision to remove the fee and write-off any historical NCEA fees owed, dating back to 2002.
Education Minister Chris Hipkins says, "We want to make things a bit easier for families to make ends meet and ensure every student who achieves NCEA can receive their qualification."
Almost 150,000 people will be affected by the write-off, of whom over 60,000 will be formally awarded at least one qualification.
The rest will receive their credits but it would not be enough to have a qualification awarded.
The number of students receiving their NCEA qualification*:
Level 1 : 24,545
Level 2 : 26,832
Level 3 : 32,743
* Some students are receiving multiple levels of NCEA.
Hipkins says, "Current and former students with unpaid fees will now have their credits or qualifications added to their official NZ Record of Achievement, backdated to the time the credits or qualifications were earned.
“It also means that employers will now be able to verify that their employee or potential employee has earned their NCEA qualification.
“These students have worked hard to earn these credits or qualifications, and it’s not right that they don’t get to use it because their families struggle to pay the fees.
"After we made the announcement in May to abolish NCEA fees, I've had feedback from a number of parents who are relieved that their child won't be held back because they were unable to make the payments.
"This is yet another way the coalition government is putting the free back in free education," says Hipkins.