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NAPLAN exams will be cancelled this year due to widespread disruption to schools caused by the coronavirus pandemic.
Key points:
- The Education Council Chair says the decision is based on the "very best" medical advice
- This year's exams were scheduled for May
- The Education Council says medical officers are still saying schools should remain open
This year's exams were scheduled for May, but with high absenteeism, some private schools working remotely and public schools temporarily closing after infections, the test will no longer take place this year.
My School, the website that allows parents to search and compare school results, will not be updated.
The decisions were made by consensus at today's COAG Education Council meeting, which includes Commonwealth, state and territory ministers.
But the Education Council said medical officers were still advising that schools should remain open.
"The decision to not proceed with NAPLAN in 2020 has been taken to assist school leaders, teachers and support staff to focus on the wellbeing of students and continuity of education, including potential online and remote learning," the Education Council said.
This year was to be the first time the controversial national literacy and numeracy tests were carried out online.
"The impact of responses to the COVID-19 virus may affect the delivery of NAPLAN testing, including the operation of centralised marking centres and the implications for nationally comparable data if an insufficient number of students are available to do the test," the Education Council said.
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Ahead of the meeting, Queensland Teachers Union and Education Minister Grace Grace went public with demands for the test to be scrapped.
Teachers unions across the country have made other demands, including allowing vulnerable teachers at greater risk of infection to work from home.
That request has been considered but has not been resolved.
"All Education Ministers acknowledge and thank all of our school leaders, our teachers and support staff for the essential work they do every day educating our children and young people, particularly during these challenging times," the Council statement said.
"They are all playing a vital role in managing the response to COVID-19."
Scrapping NAPLAN will effect state education departments which use the data to monitor performance.
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This year's Education Council Chair, Victorian Education Minister James Merlino, said the decision to cancel NAPLAN for 2020 was the right one.
"These are unprecedented times and our school communities need to focus on the additional challenge of preparing for remote learning," he said.
"I want to acknowledge the exceptional contribution from our teachers, support staff and principals at all schools during these challenging times.
"They can be assured that we are acting on the very best medical advice."
Ms Grace said teachers needed to direct their attention elsewhere, not on NAPLAN testing.
"The valuable time of our school leaders, teachers and support staff should be spent either providing continuity of learning for our students, or preparing to deliver possible curriculum at home," she said.
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Topics: infectious-diseases-other, diseases-and-disorders, health, education, australia
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