AEU calls for end to NAPLAN online

The Australian Education Union has called on state and territory governments to abandon the rollout of NAPLAN online as the new system would place many students and schools across the country at severe disadvantage.

Federal President of the AEU Correna Haythorpe has requested urgent discussions with the respective Departments after concerns raised by teachers and principals about unequal access to computer technology for students from lower socio-economic backgrounds.

Teachers had also identified serious issues regarding the technical capacity and resources of schools to cope with online testing.

“Students are being asked to complete this test online while many of our schools simply will not have the capacity, technical support or resources from education departments to make this achievable,” Ms Haythorpe said.