Updated 7.45pm - Added student comments 

Students sitting for their Italian SEC exams are up in arms after poor acoustics meant many could not understand what was being said during the exam's listening comprehension component. 

White noise and unclear audio reportedly threw off many of the students sitting for the exam, with the inadequate sound quality leaving many completely baffled. 

A total of 1,600 students sat for the exam today, which accounts for 21 per cent of the global mark. The exam was held at De La Salle college and the Examinations Centre in Victoria, Gozo, although Gozo-based students did not report any audio issues.

An online petition calling for the Matsec board to compensate students who sat for this morning's listening comprehension exams had more than 600 signatures within a few hours of it being uploaded.

"I did not understand a single word, I had to fill in false answers," a student posted on the petition, with another telling Times of Malta that "audio was echoing through the whole class." 

Many others said they had a similarly torrid time, with speakers at the De La Salle college examination hall not up to the task. 

"I guess the €21 we paid for each of the exams wasn't enough for Matsec to buy some decent speakers," another wrote in exasperation. 

"We shouldn't get a low grade when it wasn't our fault. We should not lose marks because of something not in our control," another student told Times of Malta.

Others said problems were not limited to poor sound quality and complained about blurry images and a poorly-timed school bell going off twice during the exam.  

Student group SDM said it had written to Matsec expressing concern about audio problems and urging the board to compensate affected students.  

"It is of utmost importance that students sitting for Matsec examinations are never at a disadvantage due to situations like this," SDM wrote in its note to the examination board.

'We will investigate' - Matsec

In a statement, the Matsec Office acknowledged that it had received "numerous" complaints about poor-quality audio, adding that it would be investigating the matter and decide on a course of action accordingly. 

"De La Salle College is used for these listening components given that the venue is best suited to meet the demands of simultaneous play-backs for such examinations," the Matsec Office said, clarifying that audio was channelled into 22 separate rooms through a master system. 

It added that officials conducted a pilot test of recordings prior to each component, and said its officials would be rigorously re-testing the system to ensure no further problems in future listening comprehension exams. 

De La Salle college was also used by students sitting for Arabic, German and Spanish listening comprehension exams, Matsec said. The online petition doing the rounds on social media also noted similar complaints about audio quality by students who sat for Spanish and German exams. 

"Meanwhile Matsec would again like to reassure students that it will be taking the necessary measures to ensure that no candidate is disadvantaged as a result of technical problems," the examinations board added. 

 

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