With little detail, high school students in Manitoba were told last Friday that they wouldn't take the provincial English exam the following Monday as planned.

Education and Early Childhood Learning Minister Nello Altomare responded to the situation.

"This past Friday afternoon, provincial officials in my department made the decision to simply just postpone the exam," clarified the Minister. "They did that out of an abundance of caution regarding identification of certain Manitobans that was used in the reading material for the exam. So, in order to protect their privacy, Honourable Speaker, we did the right thing."

Altomare added that all Grade 12 students in Manitoba will have the opportunity to write the provincial ELA exam by June 21 of this school year.