Students at the University of Trinidad and Tobago (UTT) have been forced to wait an extra week to sit their examinations after a global cyberattack on the Canvas Learning Management System (LMS) crippled access to essential academic resources.
In a memorandum issued yesterday, UTT President (Ag.) Professor Rean Maharaj informed staff and students that the platform was experiencing a "global outage which has affected access to UTT’s LMS."
As a result, all examinations scheduled for today, Friday 8 May, have been pushed back.
“Please be advised that Canvas Learning Management System (LMS) is experiencing a global outage which has affected access to UTT’s LMS,” the memorandum read.
“As a result of this, all examinations scheduled for Friday 8th May 2026 have been rescheduled to Friday 15th May 2026. All time and location details remain the same.”
The university added: “We sincerely apologise for any inconvenience caused and thank you for your understanding and cooperation.”
The disruption at the local university comes as educational institutions across the United States and the world grapple with what appears to be a coordinated ransomware attack.
According to CNN, the popular cloud-based hub which serves over 30 million users and 8,000 institutions was shut down yesterday, leaving students and teachers without access to classroom materials during the final exam period.
Top-tier American universities, including Harvard, Princeton, and Georgetown, reported that a ransom note from a hacking group appeared on their school’s Canvas homepages on Thursday.
The group allegedly behind the hack had previously warned the platform’s parent company, Instructure, to “pay or leak,” claiming they had accessed sensitive data from millions of users, including students and staff.
Meanwhile Instructure announced late last night that the platform was again available for “most users "
