Minister expresses deep concern over roll-call app crash

Christine Choi assures students their exams will not be affected as use of new system is suspended

Secretary for Education Christine Choi Yuk-lin has said she is “very concerned” after a new digital roll-call system crashed twice in the past two days during local university entrance exams.

The Hong Kong Examinations and Assessment Authority suspended the use of the i-Invigilation app, in its first official year of operation, after a “server jam” caused it to crash during the Diploma of Secondary Education (DSE) Chinese and English papers on Thursday and Friday.

“We are very concerned about this disruption, as it affects a very important examination for our students,” Choi said on a radio show yesterday.

“The authority has said it will ensure all exams will progress in a stable and smooth manner. I know it is following up on the incident very seriously and has had a lot of meetings that lasted several hours before making the decision to suspend the use of the app.”

Choi said she had not heard any reports of the crash preventing students from sitting the exams.

“I also want to tell students that no matter what method or mobile application is used when you conduct your roll-call, it will not affect your exam, so there is no need to feel nervous – relax a little,” she said. “There is nothing wrong with a manual roll-call.”

The app shares the same database as the Check-in Smart app used by pupils to indicate their attendance when arriving at exam venues, according to the authority. Both apps were tested last year.

Wei Xiangdong, secretary general of the authority’s board, said on Friday the server broke down when invigilators across the city launched the app as exams began, leading to a spike in traffic.

He added that the system also suffered a similar problem on Thursday during the Chineselanguage exam, with staff opting instead to manually confirm the identities of students.

Given the board needed time to fix the server issue, authorities decided to stop using the i-Invigilation app starting from yesterday’s English listening exam, Wei said. Invigilators will check students’ identities manually, but candidates can continue using the Check-in Smart app to mark their attendance.

“I would like to reassure students, parents and teachers that the DSE examinations will be held as usual and they do not have to worry,” he said.

Wei said the digital system, comprising the two apps for invigilators and students, cost HK$9 million to develop. He said the board would decide whether to take action against the contractor after investigating the incident.

The authority said the English listening and integrated skills test yesterday proceeded smoothly under amended procedures, with about 80 per cent of the roughly 43,000 candidates using the Check-in Smart app for their roll-call.

“All the test centres were able to begin the examination as scheduled and they finished the examination as expected,” a spokesman said, adding the body would continue to monitor the operation of the system and carry out appropriate follow-up action.

Separately, Choi also addressed online rumours of test papers being leaked from DSE exam centres on the mainland.

“We have to be very careful of messages online that aim to mislead people. I think we should not spread rumours and scare ourselves,” she said. “Sometimes, some parents will unknowingly have their mood affected by such false information that is being spread around.”