The range of NCEA subjects will be expanded for Curriculum Levels 2 and 3, and Te Marautanga o Aotearoa Levels 1 to 3, Education Minister, Chris Hipkins has announced.
“Following consultation with the education sector, students, their parents, whānau and communities this year, we’ve landed on a total of 67 NCEA subjects,” Mr Hipkins said.
“Of these, 56 are from The New Zealand Curriculum, and 11 from Te Marautanga o Aotearoa.
“This is a milestone in a big programme of work called the NCEA Change Programme, the main aim of which is to develop a system that will set New Zealand’s young people up for the future.
“The subject changes announced today will increase specialisation at Levels 2 and 3, support parity for mātauranga Māori and provide clearer pathways to further education and employment.”
Most of the subjects across English and Māori medium secondary schools and kura will be implemented in schools between 2023 and 2025.
Key changes to The New Zealand Curriculum include:
- Mau Rākau – a form of Māori performing arts, will be introduced from Level 2 for all learners to access.
- Whaiora will be added to the Health and Physical Education Learning Area, to provide access to specialised learning about Māori models of wellbeing.
- Outdoor Education and Tourism have been added to the subject list for the development of achievement standards.
- The original proposal to offer one Visual Arts subject is changing, with Painting remaining a separate subject. This follows consideration of the feedback received from teachers and creatives on the original proposal, which would have one Visual Arts subject that could be used to cover the current Sculpture, Painting and Printmaking subjects. The new Visual Arts subject will cover Sculpture and Printmaking.
- Pacific Studies, a highly anticipated new subject, will be added to the Social Sciences Learning Area, complementing the addition of Gagana Tokelau and Vagahau Niue to the Languages Learning Area.
- The Technology Learning Area proposal has been further refined, bringing greater coherence and clearer pathways to its subjects while retaining the options schools like to offer.
Key changes to the Te Marautanga o Aotearoa include:
- Te Reo Pākehā, the study of English through an explicit reo Māori and ao Māori lens, will be added to Levels 1, 2, and 3.
- Toi Whakairo, the study of the history, art, and practice of Māori and other indigenous carving has been added to Ngā Toi.
- There will also be continued development of the existing subjects aligned to Te Marautanga o Aotearoa. These subjects, which will be available from Level 1, include Te Reo Rangatira, Pūtaiao, Tikanga-ā-Iwi, Hangarau, Hauora, Toi Puoro, Toi Ataata, Ngā Mahi a te Rēhia and Pāngarau.
The Ministry of Education will develop all of the new subjects, and the supporting materials required, alongside experts from the secondary and tertiary sectors, and industry.
