About 1,600 students doing their O level exams are still in the dark on whether they will be asked to resit the Italian listening comprehension session.

The students who sat for the Italian listening comprehension component on Saturday complained that the sound system blurted out distorted noises.

Education Minister Evarist Bartolo said none of the students would be disadvantaged because of the poor sound quality.

However, the Matsec board has still to decide whether it would be asking students to take the exam again. A board spokesman said it was still premature to determine what course of action would be taken.

“Matsec reiterates its commitment that students will not be disadvantaged as a result of the alleged problems with the sound system being used for the Italian listening comprehension,” the spokesman said.

Though Mr Bartolo confirmed there were reports of poor sound during the Spanish and German listening sessions too, the Matsec spokesman made no mention of action with regard to these two subjects.

As to what was being done to ensure such incidents would not be repeated, the spokesman said Matsec officials were testing the system “to ensure that the recording levels are optimal”.

Referring to the standard procedures followed during such exams, the spokesman said each text was read out twice and candidates would be aware of the questions that had to be answered because the exam paper was distributed before the start of the listening comprehension.

The Matsec board said that before Saturday’s session, Matsec officials had conducted a test of the recording, adding that the venue had already been used for the listening comprehension components for Arabic, Spanish and also German.

Opposition education spokesman George Pullicino has also tabled a petition in Parliament which was raised by a student and digitally signed by some 1,772 people with regard to the Italian listening exam.

claire.caruana@timesofmalta.com