Education Minister Chris Carter has today announced a new appointment to the board of the New Zealand Qualifications Authority (NZQA).

Shona Smith, Deputy Principal of Waitakere College, will serve a three-year term with the NZQA board from 1 August 2008 until 31 July 2011.

�Ms Smith has a wide range of curriculum, assessment and qualifications expertise. She is a member of the Scholarship Processes Advisory Group, which advises the NZQA and the Ministry of Education on the implementation of the new NCEA Scholarships examination,� Chris Carter said.

Ms Smith has also served on the NCEA Forum and was the convenor of Te Tiro Hou � the Qualifications Framework Inquiry in 1996-97.

She spent seven years on the executive of the NZPPTA, as well as two terms on the Auckland College of Education Council.

Ms Smith, a former National President of the New Zealand Post Primary Teachers Association (NZPPTA), has previously held positions at Birkenhead College, Green Bay High School and Orewa College.

She was awarded Associate of the Institute of Education by the University of London following a year-long study which included a special investigation into standards-based assessment in New Zealand and the United Kingdom.