The New Zealand Qualifications Authority released results statistics late on Tuesday and at level one and level two for Southland it was the worst mark achieved going back 10 years.
The level three grades were slightly better but still down from last year.
In Southland in level one, the attainment rate for year 11 pupils was at 70%. That was a drop of nearly 7% from the previous year. The best was in 2016 with 82%.
The level two attainment rate for year 12 pupils was 78%, a drop of about 1% from the previous year. The best had been 84% in 2017.
The level three attainment rate for year 13 pupils was 66% which was not the worse in the past 10 years. In 2014, the rate was 60%. But last year’s rate was still 4% down on 2022.
PPTA Te Wehengarua president Chris Abercrombie said the Southland rates were similar to nationwide results, as were the causes.
Mr Abercrombie is a history and social studies teacher at James Hargest College, but was on leave at the moment to carry out his duties as president.
He said the Covid shadow was still hanging around and impacted pupils.
"Covid has definitely had an impact. We have had pupils who have been hit by Covid in almost the entire secondary school education," he said.
"We know people tire of the Covid excuse but it did have an impact and will continue to. A subject like maths, you have to have consistency in it. You need that and with Covid, many pupils have not been able to have it," he said.
Learning recognition credits had also been withdrawn for last year’s exams, which also had an impact. Pupils in Covid gained extra credits recognising the disruption they experienced with working from home and lockdowns.
The worsening situation of teacher shortages and a lack of specialist teachers in some subjects was also hitting schools.
That was hitting rural areas, and Southland was an example of that.
At the moment there were five vacancies for teachers in Southland and though that might not seem like a lot, it was still a lot for this time of year, Mr Abercrombie said.
One of them was for a head of department, which used to be prized job and another was for a physical education teacher, which used to have plenty of applicants. A national survey showed more than 50% of schools had teachers teaching outside their specialist subjects.
To see a lift in results, schools had to get more specialist teachers into roles, he said.
Schools were covering for absences by moving teachers into other classes, taking on relievers fulltime, and other teachers not retiring.
As Covid absences faded into the sunset it should bring better results but gaining more teachers would be such a bonus, he said.
Central government changes to the curriculum were a positive step forward.
Southland Secondary Schools’ Association chairman Pete Wilkinson said as reported by NZQA, national and regional NCEA achievement rates had been in decline the last three years.
"We are aware of the impact that Covid has had on student attendance and achievement since 2020."
Individual school results might or might not reflect this trend, Mr Wilkinson said.
Schools were continually seeking ways to improve outcomes for pupils and would continue to engage with the Ministry of Education nationally and regionally, he said.
"We look forward to seeing specific details relating to Hon Erica Stanford’s release about the Government’s six education priorities to lift achievement."
