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In time to come, students could take more examinations on digital devices instead of writing essays by hand, said Education Minister Ong Ye Kung. His ministry has received positive feedback from students on computer-based writing examinations that were introduced as a pilot in a few subjects, such as mother tongue and literature, he said in Parliament yesterday. "Students can more readily cut and paste, edit their essays, move paragraphs around. They can be asked to respond to an e-mail, write a blog or social media post, which better reflects real-life situations that students will go through later in life," he said. But such electronic exams are still some distance away, he added. "We need to take into account the readiness of schools and students... We should not inadvertently disadvantage students who may not be exposed to computers as much as others." Mr Ong was responding to five MPs who had asked whether the ministry had plans to introduce electronic exams or marking, and whether it was possible for all GCE exam papers to be marked locally to minimise the risk of scripts being lost in transit.