"The national bodies that run NAPLAN assured us the online test would work this year. But they have failed schools yet again." He said while Victoria was committed to a form of standardised testing, he would be "considering our future involvement with NAPLAN online in coming months". About 50 per cent of Australian schools are expected to sit the online test this year, up from 15 per cent last year. All Australian schools are expected to bid farewell to pen and paper tests and sit the online version next year. The NAPLAN Online test was plagued by technical glitches on Tuesday. Credit:Sitthixay Ditthavong

Colac Primary School principal Shelby Papadopoulos said nearly every Year 5 student at her school experienced drop-out issues while sitting the writing test. Students' screens went white and a frustrating message flashed up that read "communication with the test server has been lost". "It was extremely disruptive to their focus and learning," Ms Papadopoulos said. "They have a train of thought around the narrative they are writing and they have lost that because of a technical glitch." Philip Cachia, the principal of Our Lady Help of Christians School in Brunswick East, said about half of the school's Year 5 students at his school were disconnected from the test.

"It’s unfair on the kids, they were disrupted and disturbed," Mr Cachia said. "I want them to be successful. I hope we are not penalised for it when the marks come out on MySchool." Philip Cachia, the principal of Our Lady Help of Christians School in Brunswick East, says about half of the school's Year 5 students were disconnected from the test. Credit:Justin McManus He said students lost valuable writing time while they were disconnected, sometimes for up to two minutes. He said he was unable to stop the timer. The Victorian branch of the Australian Education Union, which has repeatedly called for a comprehensive review of NAPLAN, was contacted by about 50 schools that experienced technical issues. Union branch president Meredith Peace said these issues included poor connectivity, students being unable to log into the test for long periods of time and constant drop outs.

She said some students lost what they were writing when their connections were severed. "It has caused enormous problems for schools," she said. "There will be real questions to ask about the validity of these results, as there were last year." In the wake of the technical faults, Mr Merlino has instructed the Victorian Curriculum and Assessment Authority to tell the 900 Victorian schools participating in NAPLAN Online that they can switch to paper tests. Australian Principals Federation president Julie Podbury said at one Victorian school, only one student out of a class of 85 was able to complete the test without encountering technical issues.

"One little girl lost what she had written," she said. "It all vanished on the screen. The text turned white and she had a breakdown and then it reappeared." Loading She said the situation had left teachers, students and principals incredibly stressed. "The principal was worried about the implications," Ms Podbury said. "Your performance review depends on your school data. It is high stakes."

A spokesman for the Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority said while 350,000 NAPLAN Online tests were successfully submitted on Tuesday, a number of schools experienced connectivity issues. "There are procedures in place to manage issues and tests can be paused, resumed and rescheduled if any issues arise, so all students will be able to complete NAPLAN," he said. "Any inconvenience to schools and students during testing is regretted." The move to NAPLAN Online has been dogged with controversy, with concerns raised about how the online results are compared with pen and paper results. A review is currently under way into how NAPLAN data is published.