By Lucy Carroll
Thousands of students who sat the selective schools test on Friday will be given a second chance to sit the exam after mega testing centres erupted into chaos and riot police were called in to manage crowds.
The NSW Education Department told parents on Saturday that children who sat the opportunity class or selective test at Randwick, Canterbury or Sydney Olympic Park would be able to resit the test in the next three weeks at public school venues.
“These will be new tests to ensure fairness for all students,” said Murat Dizdar, the department’s secretary. “We will communicate in coming days with parents about the location of new test sites for these students, and the students who had their tests postponed.”
The department apologised to parents, admitting chaotic crowds and major logistical issues at centres caused students stress and “were unacceptable and fell below expectations”. The disarray forced the postponement of tests scheduled for the weekend at three large sites in the city.
Private testing provider Janison, which was engaged to deliver the online exam and manage mega test centres, has refused to say if its estimated $45 million contract with the NSW government is under review after the incidents.
Thousands of students sat the tests at Canterbury Park Racecourse, Randwick racecourse and Olympic Park on Friday but traffic and crowd control issues emerged after parents arrived for the first exam at 8.30am. Tests were delayed, and one exam was cancelled at Canterbury after more than 1000 students tried to leave the OC test and another 1300 children arrived for the selective exam.
Praba Kanesan with his son Karan at the selective schools test at Randwick.Credit: Louise Kennerley
“The department needs to investigate how this could have happened,” said Praba Kanesan, whose son sat the selective test. “The kids were clearly stressed and overwhelmed at the end.
“It was just chaotic when we got there and at pick-up everyone was trying to get out of one door.”
Riot police were called to manage Canterbury and regular police were called to Randwick.
This year was the first time selective tests were held in super-sized centres, with exams held in local schools in previous years. It was also the first time the test was done online.
Janison announced its $45 million deal with the department in an ASX statement last year, saying its services would include computer-based tests, managing test centres and invigilation.
One parent said conditions were “entirely unsafe for children at drop-off, with poor communication and children having to push through hundreds of waiting adults”.
Judith Carroll, who brought her grandson Teddy to the Randwick racecourse test centre, said it was a “harrowing day. It was not just disorganised, it was mayhem.”
Another parent, who took her child to Canterbury for the OC test, said when they arrived at the centre there was “one door to get children in and triage them”.
“Parents with nine-year-olds are unlikely to dump them with minimal supervision or leave them in those crowds.” She said when she went to collect her son he had “been sent out a back door and was nowhere to be seen. He asked another adult to call me and I found him.”
Riot police were called to the selective schools test at Canterbury on Friday.
The department said it was responsible for communication with parents about tests and venues, but that Janison was contracted to manage the delivery of tests, including invigilation staff and security. It said Janison had 300 staff at the three largest centres.
A department spokesperson said Dizdar met Janison’s chief executive “immediately after the issues were made known on Friday and has held subsequent meetings across the weekend with the senior executive”.
On social media, parents were being encouraged to lodge formal complaints to the department and demand an “open and transparent” investigation.
Compounding the disaster, the department confirmed 51 students at the Sydney Olympic Park test centre experienced a technical issue that meant they could not complete one section of the OC exam.
Judith Carroll with her grandson Teddy at the Randwick testing centre.Credit: Louise Kennerley
Just hours after the test chaos on Friday private coaching colleges started spruiking discounted selective tests and review sessions for those who had exams postponed.
Opposition education spokeswoman Sarah Mitchell said it appeared the testing process this year had been “a complete and utter shambles”.
“[Education] Minister Prue Car needs to be honest with parents about why this has occurred and whether a full investigation will be carried out.
“It should not have been a surprise to the Department of Education that such large numbers of students and families would be in attendance ... so it seems extraordinary that things escalated to the point where police needed to attend.”
Car has ordered an urgent review and said on Saturday she had asked the department to keep her office up to date on test operations and logistics.
Mohan Dhall, chief executive of the Australian Tutoring Association, said questions should be asked as to why a private company was engaged to run the centres and said selective testing needed “a major re-evaluation”.
About 30,000 students applied to sit selective and OC tests this year. Students compete for about 4200 selective places and 1800 OC places.
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