Education Minister Evarist Bartolo told Parliament this evening that he has instructed the MATSEC board to make sure that there is no repeat of the poor sound and acoustics that students experienced during the listening comprehension exam of their Itallian O'level.

This came after Shadow Minister for Education George Pullicino tabled a petition signed by 1,772 people.

Mr Pullicino also said that similar issues were experienced during the listening comprehension session of the German O'level.

This was confirmed by Mr Bartolo, who said that there was also one complaint in the Spanish exam.

The University of Malta said MATSEC received numerous complaints and will be investigating the matter further to determine the quality of the recording used during the exam and to decide on the course of action to be followed up.

A total of just over 1,600 students sat for the Italian SEC exam today at De La Salle School and at the Examination Centre in Victoria, Gozo. So far, MATSEC has not received any complaints from candidates sitting for the exam in Gozo. This component accounts for 21% of the global mark.

Students sitting for the exam at De La Salle College were assigned to 22 different rooms. MATSEC makes use of a master system which ensures that the recording reaches different rooms simultaneously.

The venue has already been used for the listening comprehension components for Arabic, Spanish and German.

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. Prior to each component, MATSEC officials conduct a pilot-test of the recording. This was also held for the Italian listening comprehension. MATSEC will undertake rigorous re-testing of the system to ensure that no further problems arise in upcoming Listening Comprehension examinations.