NCEA Shit-show Mark 2: Another Road Show to Boycott

by ELV

“It’s important that we get the reform of secondary school qualifications right… we will continue to engage with the sector.”

That’s what Erica Stanford says.

Engage.

Please stop using that word, Erica.

The sector did engage when you made the last dumb announcement.

We wrote submissions and signed petitions.

We spoke passionately.

We warned.

We wrote letters.

We implored her not to rush this.

We said “stop” — don’t dismantle a system, it just needs repair.

And what happened?

Nothing.

What did Erica hear?

Crickets.

NCEA is being scrapped.

The structure is and was already locked in.

The timeline is and was already set.

Don't pretend we have any type of voice or opinion Erica.

And now — suddenly — she wants to “engage” through a $1.2 ROADSHOW.

And the timing?

That’s where this starts to look, to me, a little less like leadership and more like desperation for the media spotlight.

I have no doubt she paces up and down in front of the fuel crisis announcements with scathing thoughts about how much airtime Nicola Willis is getting at the moment. Even if Willis does resemble a crazed blue minion with red lips. Erica will still see this limelight as a threat to her 'Mood of the Boardroom Darling' status she worked hard for last year.

While Nicola Willis is fronting the media daily — managing a cost-of-living squeeze, warning about fuel shocks, preparing for the economic fallout from behind Beehive Covid podiums — Erica Stanford rolls out… a roadshow.

And we all know how well the last one worked out for her.

A national tour.

In the middle of a fuel crisis.

In the middle of a war that is already pushing prices up at the pump — with petrol rising by around 50 cents a litre and adding tens of dollars to a single fill-up.

A war that has triggered one of the biggest global energy shocks in decades, driving inflation and economic instability worldwide.

And Erica can’t wait to do a roadshow to educators she can’t stand.

I’m sure she’ll invite the same Ministry staff she flew into Wellington from Tai Tokerau so the seats don’t look empty — because we have so much aviation fuel to spare.

Carry on, Erica…

Book venues.

Blow Nicola’s borrowed billions.

Print slides.

Hit the road.

You couldn’t script the desperation for votes.

Families are cutting back and genuinely suffering.

Schools are stretched to breaking.

Teachers are running on empty.

And we are about to fund another nationwide roadshow so the Minister in her blue suit can explain decisions she has already made.

Or, as the Post Primary Teachers' Association call it, a “non-announcement.”

And let’s talk about cost.

The last roadshow?

An Official Information Act response puts it at $1.2 million.

$1.2 million.

At a time when families are counting every litre.

When fuel relief in this country has required billions to make a real difference.

And this is what we’re choosing to spend money on.

What a waste of money.

What a waste of time.

And all over a power struggle for headline news so Nicola doesn’t suck up all Erica's airtime. Nothing, absolutely nothing is about the kids or educators, their futures or our whānau.

And all for what?

To “engage” us in something we were never truly allowed to shape — or even asked for.

Erica, please stop using the word engage and sector in the same breath.

It’s disrespectful.

Consult.

Ignore.

Announce.

Roadshow.

Hit the road, Jack.

And don’t come back.