An online literacy test scheduled for thousands of high school students today has been cancelled after the system experienced province-wide technical failures.

The Education, Quality and Accountability Office (EQAO), which is responsible for overseeing the standardized tests in the province, at first described the problem as “a minor technical issue.”

The agency later said it was working to resolve the problem, but finally acknowledged two hours later that they weren’t able to resolve it.

“We regret to inform you that we have cancelled today’s assessment,” EQAO said on Twitter about three hours after the test’s scheduled start time. “We acknowledge that we are experiencing widespread technical issues with the online #OSSLT network.”

At around 11:30 a.m., the EQAO advised all proctors to discontinue the test.

High school students across Ontario found themselves staring at a frozen web page for hours as the system failed.

School boards around the province reported problems with the online test Thursday morning and some cancelled it altogether before the EQAO said that it was pulling the test.

As many as 190,000 students had planned to take the test today, the first time the province has offered it online.

Because it is considered a trial run for the system, there is no penalty for students who failed the test or were unable to complete it.

Still, many parents and teachers expressed frustration that valuable learning time was wasted while students started at blank screens.

 

Some parents also experienced frustration that their children had been sent home after the test failed.

The EQAO acknowledged the frustration and apologized on its Twitter feed.

“We recognize all of the work that schools have done to prepare for this trial,” the agency said. “We are disappointed at the outcome of this trial and sincerely apologize for this development.”

The mandatory province-wide high school literacy test is scheduled for March 2017.

-          With files from The Canadian Press