Education and Training Minister Sue Ellery has today welcomed the decision to delay the requirement that all schools complete NAPLAN in the online mode by one year to 2021.
The original timeline for all schools across Australia to complete NAPLAN online was by 2020, following a trial period of the online platform.
In May this year approximately 40,000 WA students from 300 schools encountered problems with the NAPLAN online platform.
Today at the Education Council meeting of the Federal Government and State and Territory Ministers it was decided to delay the current transition plan by one year to 2021, with further consideration of the transition arrangements once the review into the connectivity issues has been completed. Problems with the firewall was raised as a possible reason for the connectivity issues this year.
As stated by Education and Training Minister Sue Ellery:
“I support extending the transition to NAPLAN online by one year from 2020 to 2021.
“The technological problems schools encountered this year accessing the online platform were disruptive, distressing for some and unacceptable given the amount of time we have been transitioning to date, with around 40,000 students affected on the day.
“I support the one point in time ‘snapshot’ test which NAPLAN is so that parents can gauge how their child is going and teachers can pick up where they need to modify their teaching depending on the test results, but I want it to be a reliable system.
“I would hope the platform would be ready for next year so there are minimal disruptions to schools and students during NAPLAN testing.”
