PPTA, controversial NCEA article

The PPTA’s complaint about Deborah Coddington’s controversial article Blowing the Whistle on NCEA in North & South magazine was upheld by the NZ Press Council.
The council said the article breached the principle of fairness and balance of NCEA.
Coddington claimed that NZQA were “fudging figures” and manipulating marks based on information from a source known as “anonymous Pete”. PPTA criticised Coddington for not seeking comment from those “slammed in the article”.
PPTA president Robin Duff says the article was “unbalanced as the reporter made no attempt at speaking with the PPTA, the MoE, NZQA, or other teachers”.
The Press Council’s report found it was “unconvincing for the magazine to argue that there was no requirement for it to seek balancing comment from NZQA when specific allegations of manipulating marks and figures were being made about the organisation”.
It also said “allegations against teachers should have been put to the PPTA as their representative body”.