WELLINGTON, May 27 (Xinhua) -- A National Certificate of Educational Achievement (NCEA) Review discussion document was released on Sunday by New Zealand Education Minister Chris Hipkins, focusing more on critical thinking, digital literacy, civic participation, and working alongside others.

Among the six big ideas in the document are radically changes to level one and better involving families and students in the design of courses students take.

"The ideas were developed by my Ministerial Advisory Group to challenge thinking and provoke debate on updating our national school-leaving qualification," Hipkins said in a statement. Public consultation begins on Sunday and runs till Sept. 16.

"At stake is the opportunity to change how NCEA is used to prepare our students for life after school in a fast-changing world," Hipkins said.

"Employers are telling us that students coming out of school don't have the right skills, students say more flexibility is needed and teachers say there's too much assessment, getting in the way of learning," the minister said.