Students unable to write online literacy exam due to 'technical issues'
Grade 10 students in Windsor-Essex attempting to write the Ontario Secondary School Literacy Test (OSSLT) Thursday were unable to log on to brand new online test software causing the test to be cancelled.
A notice on the Education Quality and Accountability Office (EQAO) website advised students "technical issues" with the network were creating slowdowns in the system. It had asked students to restart their network at 10 a.m..
The test was cancelled shortly before 11:30 a.m.
The issue was solely on the EQAO end, said Stephen Fields, a spokesman for the Windsor-Essex Catholic School Board.
He said the vast majority of Grade 10 students in the board were scheduled to write the exam Thursday and they would continue trying to write until lunch before students attended their regularly scheduled classes in the afternoon.
A spokeswoman from the Greater Essex District School Board said staff are unsure what the issue is, but said things are "slow going" at the schools today.
Though the glitch is province-wide, not all Ontario students have been left unable to write the test. Individual schools chose whether to participate in the affected online version.
