It worked: school principal coalition welcome change after sit-down with Education Minister

<h2>The seventy schools in the Principals NCEA Coalition have welcomed changes to the Government’s NCEA review process advised by Education Minister Chris Hipkins on Tuesday&period;<&sol;h2>&NewLine;<p>The Principals NCEA Coalition was formed ten days ago in protest at the Minister of Education’s NCEA Review&period; The Principals &&num;8211&semi; who represent a diverse range of public&comma; private and charter secondary schools from Kaikohe to Bluff claim the review process is rushed and does not adequately consult with them&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<h3><a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;www&period;schoolnews&period;co&period;nz&sol;2018&sol;07&sol;school-principals-launch-ad-campaign-against-minister-of-education&sol;" target&equals;"&lowbar;blank">Earlier this month&comma; the coalition published full-page advertisements in the national Sunday newspapers marking the Minister of Education’s review a &OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;Fail” – and damning the process as rushed&comma; flawed and without proper consultation&period;<&sol;a><&sol;h3>&NewLine;<p>Spokesperson for the coalition&comma; Glen Denham&comma; Principal of West Auckland’s Massey High School&comma;said the changes followed an urgent meeting with the Minister on Thursday&comma; including with the Secondary Principals’ Association of New Zealand &lpar;SPANZ&rpar; and the PPTA’s Principals’ Council&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>While the PPTA’s Principals’ Council believed the current process is working well&comma; the Minister has nevertheless agreed to seek Cabinet agreement for changes that partly address the coalition’s concerns&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Specifically&comma; the Minister says he plans to establish a new Professional Advisory Group&comma; including Principals and teachers&comma; to advise him on the outcomes from the review process next year&period; In addition&comma; the current engagement process will be extended until 19 October 2018&comma; from the planned 16 September&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<blockquote>&NewLine;<p>&OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;We are grateful to the Minister for meeting with us and welcome these initial changes as a good start&comma;” Mr Denham said&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>&OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;As a 70-strong coalition&comma; we will now begin work on our vision for NCEA and the details of how it should operate&comma; and New Zealand’s remaining secondary schools are very welcome to join us&period; It is vital to get this right for the future of the young people of New Zealand&period;” <&sol;p>&NewLine;<&sol;blockquote>&NewLine;