Ulster Unionist Education spokesperson, Danny Kinahan MLA has said that the Department of Education must provide answers as to how the problems arose with computerised tests in schools across Northern Ireland and what plans they have in place to ensure it does not happen again.
Danny, who is also Vice-Chair of the Education Committee said:
“Many teaching and learning hours have been wasted in preparing and taking part in the Northern Ireland Numeracy Assessment (NINA) and Northern Ireland Literacy Assessment (NILA) computerised tests which later proved to have suffered from technical faults. For many teachers across Northern Ireland, hours that should have been spent on teaching were instead wasted on attempts to solve the problems with the assessment system.’
“The confusion that ensued as to whether or not the testing system would be pulled only added to the frustration and was totally unacceptable. The Department of Education and Exam Boards must provide answers as to why these problems arose and what plans they have put in place to ensure that it does not happen again.’
“I also have deep concerns over the untold costs of getting this testing system right. It is clear that either the pilot run didn’t show up any faults, or if it did then they weren’t heeded. There will now have to be more money spent on this system as a result. Given how stretched the education budget currently is, this is totally unacceptable.’
“I remain to be convinced that the Department of Education actually knows the scale of the problem or how much it is going to cost to rectify this dire situation.’