Students of NZ! Have you struggled with school in the recent lockdown? Were you holding out for 20 days so that we could get our credits reduced, only to be given two weeks of extra school. Well if you’ve signed the petition to reverse that extra two weeks, come and sign this petition so that we can get what we need! Lowered credits.

To the Ministry of Education and the Labour Government: when the students of NZ expressed to you that we not only wanted but desperately NEEDED a credit reduction, you turned your backs on us and thought that you knew what was best for us instead. An extra two weeks of school is NOT what we need. We are struggling and we are drowning. NCEA is difficult enough as it is with balancing home-life and work, but when you throw in the mix of lockdown - well you simply have no idea how much harder that makes things. 

1. The balance: from what we’ve seen so far (and from last lockdown), students need face-to-face learning. Whether it be two weeks or one month, the toll that not actively learning in a classroom can be detrimental to many people. Level 1 and 2 students are struggling to pass, and level 3 students worry that their university chances are over.

2. Mental health: Not only this, but many students in NZ struggle with a plethora of extra stressful things such as mental health and family situations that can also hinder their lockdown workload. Many students lose all motivation in lockdown (because many variants like anxiety, depression etc) to do school work without the proper help from teachers, they now have the extra worry of trying to catch up. Every student in NZ also have very different home lives that can greatly hinder students abilities to do school from home. Further, many students are also essential workers at supermarkets or pharmacies. You as the Ministry of Education and Government cannot simply assume that students will be able to maintain the same level of work due to all of these variants.

3. 20 days. You stated that if we were doing school from home for 20 days or more then we would receive a lowered credit count. Well, for Aucklanders that’s great. But you’ve left the rest of us high and dry. That’s not good enough. By the time we are back at school in level 2 we would have missed out on a reduced credit score by four days. FOUR days. If you think that four days makes some huge difference and that we don’t need reduced credits, well, I’m sorry but you’re delusional.

In conclusion, the students of NZ are desperate. Each student is desperate for their own reason. But the bottom line is, we need a credit reduction. Please reconsider.