Some key parts:
A leading education researcher warns new high-stakes NCEA literacy and maths tests could do more harm than good.
From 2026 students would not be allowed an NCEA certificate until they had passed all three tests in reading, writing and maths.
Darr said schools needed other options for assessing literacy and numeracy and meeting the requirements should not be a prerequisite for receiving an NCEA qualification.
Literacy and numeracy could be a separate qualification, or they could be included in the NCEA certificates in the same manner that standards from other subjects were included.
Soft skills like that are quite difficult to objectively measure though.
Empathy is difficult, team work isn’t too hard and critical thinking is already part of the syllabus kinda.
Maybe fold empathy into social and emotional intelligence. Or ethics.
Critical thinking is measurable. I’d agree with you on the other two though.