‘They are not mucking around, these parents': Scale of selective test chaos emerges
Frustrated parents are weighing up whether their children should resit the high-stakes selective schools test after chaotic crowds and technical glitches led to a breakdown in testing at three major centres last week.
Tensions are high inside tutor Tim Ricketts' selective school coaching classes. Ricketts, who runs a tutoring centre in North Rocks, said some parents fear students whose test was postponed will now have an unfair advantage. Others, whose child made it through Friday's exam, are grappling with whether their child should reattempt the test.
Thousands of children sat the selective and opportunity class (OC) tests at various centres across Sydney. At Randwick and Canterbury, police were called after surging crowds led to the tests being postponed. At these venues and Olympic Park, where there were technical glitches, 4628 students who sat the tests would have the chance to re-sit them within three weeks at public schools.
It was the first time the exam had been held online, managed by online education provider Janison Education.
Ricketts questioned whether the integrity of the test had been damaged.
'No one understands what has gone on or how they can resolve it,' he said. 'For some parents, this [test] is as equally important as the HSC.'
He said some parents see the bungle as an opportunity for their child to squeeze in a couple of weeks' more study.
'That's how cut-throat it is. They are not mucking around, these parents,' Ricketts said.
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Frustrated parents are weighing up whether their children should resit the high-stakes selective schools test after chaotic crowds and technical glitches led to a breakdown in testing at three major centres last week. Tensions are high inside tutor Tim Ricketts' selective school coaching classes. Ricketts, who runs a tutoring centre in North Rocks, said some parents fear students whose test was postponed will now have an unfair advantage. Others, whose child made it through Friday's exam, are grappling with whether their child should reattempt the test. Thousands of children sat the selective and opportunity class (OC) tests at various centres across Sydney. At Randwick and Canterbury, police were called after surging crowds led to the tests being postponed. At these venues and Olympic Park, where there were technical glitches, 4628 students who sat the tests would have the chance to re-sit them within three weeks at public schools. It was the first time the exam had been held online, managed by online education provider Janison Education. Ricketts questioned whether the integrity of the test had been damaged. 'No one understands what has gone on or how they can resolve it,' he said. 'For some parents, this [test] is as equally important as the HSC.' He said some parents see the bungle as an opportunity for their child to squeeze in a couple of weeks' more study. 'That's how cut-throat it is. They are not mucking around, these parents,' Ricketts said.
