The National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM), one of Latin America’s largest and most prestigious public universities, has announced it will go back to in-person admission testing after a rocky attempt to move the process online.
The decision follows a final report from the university’s Technical Committee, which was tasked with investigating what went wrong during the digital exam rollout. According to the findings, the online system suffered from a lack of adequate planning and multiple oversights that compromised the integrity and reliability of the process. Although the exact details of the technical failures weren’t fully spelled out, the report was damaging enough to prompt university officials to abandon the online format entirely for future admission cycles.
UNAM had piloted the online exam as part of a broader effort to modernize its admissions process and make testing more accessible, particularly for students outside Mexico City who might otherwise have to travel long distances to take the exam in person. However, the setbacks apparently outweighed the intended benefits, at least for now.
The reversal underscores the challenges public institutions face when shifting large-scale, high-stakes testing to digital platforms, especially in a country where internet access and infrastructure can vary widely between regions.
For the full story and more details on the committee’s findings, check out the original report from La Jornada.
Source: UNAM volverá a exámenes de admisión presenciales tras informe del Comité Técnico sobre fallas de prueba en línea (jornada.com.mx). English version produced with AI assistance.
Image: Albert Bettannier.