School principals are opposing a plan to raise the fees for elite scholarship exams saying the proposed $30 per exam will deter students, especially those from poor families,
At present, students can sit up to three scholarship exams for free if they have paid a $76.70 fee for NCEA exams. If they wish to sit more than three, each extra exam will cost $76.70.
Wellington College had more scholarship passes than any other school last year. Principal Roger Moses says new fees for scholarship exams might deter able students from attempting the elite qualification.
"My concern would be that able students, perhaps those who are not particularly well off, will be deterred from entering the exams.
"We hear a great deal about the bottom 20% of New Zealand education. I think it's also incredibly important we push that top end and give students opportunities to succeeed at the very top level."
The Qualifications Authority wants to change that from 2015, because a quarter of the 10,000 students who enter scholarship exams do not turn up. It says it could save more than $100,000 a year if there are fewer dropouts.
The Secondary Principals Association says it understands the need for a change, but some principals say the fees will deter students from attempting the exams.
They say the authority should find other ways of reducing the number of no-shows.
