New Zealand students studying Chinese as a second language will be able to sit School Certificate in the subject for the first time this year. In a press release issued Monday by the New Zealand government, New Zealand Education Minister Trevor Mallard said that he had asked the New Zealand Qualifications Authority to run a School Certificate Examination in Chinese (Second Language) from this year on.

"There is already an examination at Bursary level in Chinese and I accept that not having an examination at School Certificate level limits the number of students taking this language subject. "This decision puts Chinese language on an equal footing with other international languages taught in our schools, " he said.