Submission on proposal to replace NCEA

Recreation Aotearoa is the leading professional body supporting New Zealand’s recreation sector, advocating for quality experiences that keep people active, healthy, and connected. Its members include those dedicated to creating and managing parks, open spaces, and outdoor education programmes across the country.

Overview of general comments

Recreation Aotearoa strongly urges the Ministry of Education to reconsider the exclusion of Outdoor Education from the general senior subject list. Reclassifying it as vocational-only would undermine its academic credibility, reduce accessibility, limit pathways into tertiary study and key growth sectors such as adventure tourism and conservation, and weaken essential outdoor safety education. Outdoor Education is a critical, evidence-based discipline that delivers measurable outcomes in education, wellbeing, workforce development, and national identity. Retaining it as a general subject is a low-cost, high-impact decision that supports students, capability, and the economy.

Read our submission 

For more detail, please read:

Submission on proposal to replace NCEA

Questions or feedback

If you have any questions, or want to share your views, contact our Advocacy Manager, Sam Newton, by email: sam@nzrecreation.org.nz.