A student petition calling for a change to the year 12 exam timetable has been closed after pressure from a Launceston college.
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The petition argued students enrolled in two of the most difficult subjects in the curriculum, Physics and Mathematics Specialised, would be affected “in a dramatically negative way” because both exams were scheduled on the same day.
“There is potential here for political outcomes if a consistent number of students receive lower scores than possible due to mental fatigue,” the petition read.
“This is not a case of Specialised students feeling they are superior, but rather encouraging equity, recognising the fact that Level 4 subjects are Level 4 for a reason … ”
The petition attracted considerable attention before it was closed after being online for only one day.
The petition was addressed to the office responsible for exam timetables, Tasmanian Assessment, Standards and Certification, but a spokesperson said the office didn’t ask the author of the petition to take it down.
The spokesperson also ruled out any changes to the exam timetable.
“Building the exam timetable is a very complex process which takes into account a number of considerations including that there are minimal clashes for students the length of the exams, the amount of resources required by schools and ensuring support for students with special disabilities,” the spokesperson said.
“While this is an operational matter between the school and the students, it is not at all unusual for students to have more than one exam on the same day.”
A large majority of students enrolled in Mathematics Specialised also take Physics, however, this group represents a small number of overall Tasmanian students.
Don College student Isabelle Sharman was one of almost 500 students who signed the petition.
She studies Physics and Mathematics Specialised and said she felt “screwed over” when she saw both exams were scheduled on the same day.
“I feel like they’ve just screwed us over a little bit because a lot of people are affected by it,” she said.
“It just puts us a step behind the mainland because really the ATAR is a competition with everyone in Australia.”
Another student who spoke to The Advocate on the condition of anonymity said they didn’t understand why the petition had been closed in the first place.
“Regardless of what it is about, I don’t think it's correct to take it down,” they said.
“For a student, there is no correct channels to go through and we’re not allowed or meant to contact TASC on matters like that.”
Another similar petition sprung up shortly after the first petition was closed.