Technical glitches hinder online test for students

Online assessments for students in government schools across the city were hampered due to technical glitches on Monday, the first day of app-based assessment for students of classes 3 to 8 and class 11. Officials said that technical hiccups had occurred to a server overload.

Mini Satija, primary in-charge, Government Model Sanskriti Senior Secondary School, Sector 43, said that while students had to face intermittent technical issues, they were giving the tests and had time till tomorrow to complete the same. “The response from students in the morning was good but there were technical issues in the afternoon. The site was inaccessible and there were some issues with the formatting of the questions. Some questions were not getting displayed,” said Satija.

She said that the department had been apprised about the technical faults that had occurred throughout the day. “We are tracking the progress of students and calling students who are yet to take the test. We had also called some parents to school since they were facing issues with the app,” said Satija.

Structured online assessment tests are being conducted for the first time since the Covid-19 pandemic started last year. These tests are being conducted through an app called AVSAR, which will allow students to take the test within 24 hours from its commencement. Teachers said that the tests will give them an idea about the progress made by students during the previous year, since in-person school visits for these students are either restricted or were started only this month.

Ashok Kumar, head teacher of primary school, Government Model Senior Secondary School in Sector 4/7, said that the app did not work on Monday and only a few students were able to complete the test. “Very few students were able to complete the test since the app was not working. Some students did not have phones, so we asked to them visit the school. They were able to use the app on our phones,” said Kumar.

District elementary education officer Premlata Yadav said that technical issues that had arisen on account of heavy server load were being addressed. “The app server was down since it’s being used across the whole state today. Students have 24 hours to take the test and can attempt it tomorrow,” said Yadav.