Education minister Sue Ellery announced today that Western Australian schools will not sit NAPLAN (National Assessment Program – Literacy and Numeracy) online this year, after trials on the school holidays identified issues with the online platform.
This decision means Western Australia joins Victoria, the ACT, South Australian and Queensland in withdrawing from NAPLAN Online for 2017.
“"The advice I have received means I am no longer prepared to commit Western Australian students to participate in NAPLAN Online in 2017,” Ms Ellery said.
“My primary concern is to ensure students are able to demonstrate their literacy and numeracy skills without experiencing IT issues.
"Contingencies for this decision have been put in place by the School Curriculum and Standards Authority and all schools affected have been contacted.”
The NAPLAN testing, which begins in May, affects students in years 3, 5, 7 and 9.
Ms Ellery said the decision will allow the additional time required for the Commonwealth Department of Education and Training to make improvements to the NAPLAN Online platform, so the project can continue in 2018.
"We will work closely with our partners across Australia to ensure a successful rollout in 2018 and 2019,” she said.