Potential impacts of the new school qualifications environment in New Zealand on tertiary engineering education

This paper reviews the forthcoming progressive changes to the New Zealand secondary school qualifications with the introduction of new standards-based qualifications from 2002 onwards, which will incrementally replace the current examinations-based qualifications. The history and structure of the New Zealand qualifications system is outlined with particular reference to industry and tertiary education providers. An area of special interest discussed is the move by the Electrotechnology Industry Training Organisation (ETITO) to introduce a new National Certificate for use within secondary schools in an attempt to increase the numbers of students taking electronics as a subject. A second area of discussion is the perceived likelihood of increased pressure on students as they move from the new standards-based secondary environment into the more traditional examination-based tertiary sector. Some strategies that could be employed to alleviate these new engineering education challenges for the tertiary sector within New Zealand are also outlined in the paper.