The changes have also caused alarm at Mount Aspiring College - which is known for its outdoor education programme and its links to nearby skifields.
An Education Outdoors New Zealand spokesperson said the Ministry of Education had suggested changes to NCEA that could remove outdoor education from the senior subjects list.
Dunedin Adventures owner and operator Tim Bartholomew said the proposed change would make it more difficult for schools to make it an attractive choice for their students.
Outdoor education provided students with some of the most "impactful" and "memorable" experiences from secondary school, he said.
"It's when they're going and dangling on ropes on cliffs and stuff. Those are the things that they'll remember and take away from their school."
He took over Dunedin Adventures about 10 years ago, but the company had been providing outdoor education and experiences to secondary school students for the past 30 years.
About 10 schools around Dunedin used its services to provide the rock climbing, kayaking and abseiling components of their outdoor education programmes.
The government was too focused on getting students to study subjects that would lead them to university, like English and maths, he said.
With the focus on academic subjects, he was afraid the government was stripping students of a potential career in the outdoors.
Mr Bartholomew wanted outdoor adventures to be more than something people just did in their 20s, and to make the field a viable career prospect for New Zealand students.
The tourism industry needed professionals who were educated and experienced in the outdoors to thrive.
Dunedin Adventures outdoor instructor Josh Bennison said in his 13 years as an adventure therapist, he had witnessed many students break through perceived limitations and grow into confident people with a sense of belonging.
The outdoor adventures also helped students get off their phones and connect with the nature around them, he said.
Mount Aspiring College principal Nicola Jacobson said the changes would have a negative impact for students from Wanaka in particular.
One of the region’s most prominent employers was Cardrona Treble Cone, and many students went on to work as ski patrollers and lift operators.
Outdoor education helped students develop skills to manage risk and intensive, quite high-pressure environments.
Year 13 student Tanyn Woods moved to Wanaka specifically for the programme.
She came from a family who loved the outdoors, but wanted to expand her experiences and gain some independence.
"I think it was a great way to build perseverance," she said.
She felt she had learnt many interpersonal skills from the programme that would transfer into the next part of her life in tertiary studies.
Education Minister Erica Stanford told the Otago Daily Times on Friday that outdoor education was very important and the government would be making some announcements about it in the coming weeks.
- Additional reporting Rawan Saadi
