NZ: $69m upgrade for school networks and security
A $69 million online learning package announced by the NZ Government will upgrade schools’ digital networks, improve online security and ensure the ongoing integrity of the National Certificates of Educational Achievement (NCEA) Online exams — the national qualifications for senior secondary school students.
The package is expected to help break down some of the barriers schools face to offering online exams by offering schools network upgrades, ICT and cybersecurity support, and digital identities secondary school students can use to access NCEA Online.
A $49 million expansion of the Te Mana Tūhono program will offer all state and state-integrated schools the opportunity to upgrade their network hardware by 2024 and will expand the program to offer cybersecurity support.
This will give schools confidence they can offer their students a safe and secure online environment to take their NCEA exams online.
The government is also investing $20 million over four years on digital identities for secondary students. This will enable them to access digital practice exams, to sit NCEA exams online and to check their NCEA results when they are released.
This will help reduce students’ stress around exam time, reduce the administration schools need to do to manage logons and ensure the ongoing integrity of digital NCEA exams as more students take online exams. It is envisaged it will make it easier for students to sit their exams securely and will reduce the amount of work schools need to do to offer the NCEA Online format.
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