The Abitur exams in NRW were canceled for Wednesday. The alternative date is set. There is an exception rule for Muslim students. All developments in the news ticker.
- In North Rhine-Westphalia, the Abi exams planned for Wednesday (April 19) have been postponed to Friday.
- The reason was massive technical problems when downloading the central tasks.
- Muslim students do not have to write down the exams because of the Sugar Festival on Friday.
- wa.de is currently reporting in the news ticker.
Update from April 19, 7:40 p.m.: The download of the written Abitur exams works smoothly again. This was announced by the NRW Ministry of Education on Wednesday evening. The download has already been successfully completed by almost all schools. School minister Dorothee Feller promises “that the reasons for yesterday’s download problems will be clarified with the help of a comprehensive error analysis.” According to the ministry, one cause of the problems could be related to the newly introduced 2-factor authentication, “even if all tests were carried out in advance have been positive in this regard.” This security mechanism has now been deactivated.
Abitur exams in NRW postponed – exception for Muslim students
On Friday (April 21), 30,000 high school graduates in North Rhine-Westphalia will take the exams in the subjects biology, chemistry, nutrition, computer science, physics and technology. Since the Sugar Festival is also celebrated on this day, Muslim students do not have to write down the exams. “Anyone who does not want to take part in the exams because of the festival can do so after prior consultation with the school management on May 9th,” says the NRW Ministry of Education. Nothing stands in the way of the approval of special leave for teachers of the Muslim faith, provided that the Abitur examinations are guaranteed.
Abitur exams in NRW take place on Thursday
Update from April 19, 5:26 p.m.: The high school exams for tomorrow Thursday are not at risk. When asked by wa.de, a spokesman for the NRW Ministry of Education said the download of the tasks ran smoothly. In contrast to the previous day, however, the technical procedure was changed.
Update from April 19, 1:15 p.m.: NRW Prime Minister Hendrik Wüst (CDU) has apologized to high school graduates, parents, teachers and other affected people for the serious technical breakdown at the start of the 2023 high school diploma in North Rhine-Westphalia. “It must not happen that the Abitur exams in NRW have to be postponed – no matter what the reason is,” Wüst wrote on Twitter.
Now it must be ensured that all of their exams can be taken “under the best possible conditions”. “The students have a right to good and fair conditions for their Abitur,” emphasized the head of government. That’s the focus, and “we’re working on it with every effort”. Hendrik Wüst called for a “thorough investigation of the events”. It is good that School Minister Dorothee Feller (CDU) has already initiated the clarification so that something like this does not happen again.
Update from April 19, 12:55 p.m.: The Abitur exams planned for Thursday can probably take place. The headmaster of a comprehensive school in Hamm confirmed to wa.de that the download was working this time – but using the old procedure and not the “two-way authentication”. On Thursday there will be exams in the following subjects:
- art, music
- geography
- pedagogy
- History, History/Social Sciences
- philosophy
- psychology
- Right
- Social Sciences (with SW/Business)
- sociology
- Economics*)
- possibly and Catholic religious teaching
- Sports
Canceled Abi exams in NRW: Minister is only reluctant to comment on the reasons
Update from April 19, 12:10 p.m.: The postponement of the Abitur exams to Friday poses problems for many students. High school graduates who come to school by train could have problems due to the train warning strike on April 21. Friday is also the highest Muslim holiday, the Sugar Festival. According to Feller, anyone who is unable to take part in the Abi exams can make up for it.
Update from April 19, 11:50 a.m.: Dorothee Feller is reluctant to comment on possible reasons for the breakdown. “We don’t think the video is the cause,” she said of suggestions that a video document could have caused problems. The newly introduced two-factor authentication for the download could also be a cause, but we don’t know yet. “We are also examining an external hacker attack,” said Feller.
Abi breakdown in NRW: concerns about leaking tasks
Update from April 19, 11:42 a.m.: Worries about a leak of the Abi tasks planned for Wednesday are growing. Current tasks have allegedly appeared on the Internet. Feller called them fakes. Nevertheless, the NRW Ministry is checking whether other exams will be held on Friday (April 21) than would have been the case today. “That’s also possible,” said Feller. The ministry wants to work intensively on the massive disruption together with the external service provider, create a precise error analysis and draw conclusions from it. After all, downloading the high school exams planned for Thursday (April 20) is going well at the moment.
Update from April 19, 11:29 am: NRW School Minister Dorothee Feller has apologized for the glitch. She can understand that students and teachers are “really angry,” she said in a press conference. “So am I. That should never have happened.” The service provider for transmitting the tasks had a second server, but the B solution didn’t work on Tuesday either. In the fall, the download was tested smoothly with around 300 schools. Downloading was also successful for 300 schools on Tuesday afternoon. It didn’t work for about 600 schools.
Start of the Abi exams in NRW canceled after a breakdown: possible sources of error
Update from April 19, 11:23 am: This year there was an innovation in the procedure for the Abitur exams, says Karsten Holz, deputy chairman of the Westfälisch-Lippische directors’ association and director of the Galilei-Gymnasium in Hamm, when asked by wa.de. According to Holz, there was a “two-way authentication” for the first time. The schools would have received an additional identification number by e-mail, which had to be entered when downloading.
Update from April 19, 10:53 am: Is a film with too much data to blame for the technical problems before the NRW Abi? That’s what Andreas Tempel, head of the Alexander Coppel Comprehensive School in Solingen, suspects. The films were to accompany the experimental setups for the science exams. School management and associations “pointed out in advance that it would be best to test it. That didn’t happen and it probably got stuck there now,” Tempel says WDR.
Start of the Abitur examinations in NRW canceled after a breakdown – an alternative date has been set
Update from April 19, 8:33 a.m.: After the postponement of Abitur exams in North Rhine-Westphalia due to a technical breakdown, the SPD parliamentary group requested a special session in the state parliament’s school committee. School Minister Dorothee Feller (CDU) should explain “how she wants to ensure a legally secure Abitur,” said the spokeswoman for school policy for the SPD parliamentary group, Dilek Engin, on Wednesday morning.
Abitur examinations in NRW postponed due to technical problems – statement expected from the minister
Update from April 19, 6:59 a.m.: NRW School Minister Dorothee Feller (CDU) will comment on the central high school diploma during the day – and thus probably also on the massive disruption in the high school exams on Tuesday and Wednesday.
The Abitur exams for today, Wednesday, could not be downloaded from the Ministry of Education’s website. Many teachers waited into the evening to see if the technical glitch could be fixed, until the exams were finally canceled and the date was postponed to Friday, April 21st.
The following subjects are affected:
- biology
- Chemistry
- dietetics
- computer science
- physics
- Technology
The download for the high school exams must work again on Wednesday, otherwise even more exams would be affected.
Abi exams in NRW canceled due to technical problems with the download
Update from April 18, 8:49 p.m.: For a long time it was just a possible scenario, the decision will be made on Tuesday evening. The Abitur exams scheduled for Wednesday, April 19, 2023 in North Rhine-Westphalia have been cancelled. This was announced by the Ministry of Schools and Education on Tuesday evening. Accordingly, the technical fault could not be resolved in time during Tuesday.
Over the course of Tuesday, more and more schools in North Rhine-Westphalia reported that the download of the exams, which was actually scheduled for 12 noon, would not work properly. “The disruption and short-term postponement of the Abitur exams is extremely annoying. The high school graduates have prepared intensively for their exams,” Dorothee Feller, Minister of Education and Education, is quoted as saying in the statement.
The written Abitur exams in biology, physics, chemistry, computer science and technology scheduled for Wednesday will be postponed to Friday, April 21, 2023, which has so far been free of exams.
Abi exams in NRW canceled – alternative date has already been set
[Erstmeldung] Hamm – Students have been preparing for weeks, poring over books and working through the subject matter. On Wednesday, April 19, 2023, Abitur exams in biology, physics, chemistry, computer science and technology and nutrition are to be written in North Rhine-Westphalia – actually. Schools across the country are reporting problems downloading the exams, such as calf reported.
Abi exams in NRW in danger – schools report problems with the download
Students and teachers are prepared. Now the technology seems to be on strike. According to consistent reports, numerous schools in North Rhine-Westphalia are complaining about download problems. They usually download the exam the day before from a server in the country. The Ministry of Education provides the tasks centrally. However, many schools in NRW did not have access to it on Tuesday evening.
Like the Philologists’ Association of North Rhine-Westphalia WDR confirmed, the problem with downloading the exams for the central high school diploma continued on Tuesday evening. Problematic: Immediately after downloading, a test arrangement would have to be set up and copies made, especially for scientific subjects, as Sabine Mistler, chairwoman of the NRW Philology Association, explained to WDR. In addition, subject areas would have to be selected promptly.
Download of the Abitur exams failed – “Unrest in the country is very big”
The download of the Abitur exams was originally scheduled for Tuesday at 12 noon and would normally have been completed long ago. While downloading only partially worked in many places, it was not possible at all in some schools. “There is a lot of unrest in the country,” said Mistler.
One thing is clear: the teachers at the schools are threatened with a long service on Tuesday. The teachers are currently still in the schools and are waiting for instructions from Düsseldorf. Schools had been asking since the afternoon and had been put off hour by hour, she reported WAZ. A decision should be made on Tuesday evening.
Mistler very much hopes that the Abitur exams, which have been criticized in NRW for years, will not have to be postponed. Whether the exams can take place properly on Wednesday is currently still open. Around 72,000 schoolchildren across the country are taking part in this year’s Abitur examinations in 40 subjects.