Localities across Vietnam have prepared various scenarios to ensure safety for the national high school graduation exam during the Covid-19 pandemic, which will be held in a serious and fair manner, according to the Ministry of Education and Training (MoET).

Mai Van Trinh, director of the Quality Control Department under the MoET told The Hanoi Times that all examination staff and more than 1.1 million students nationwide have made medical declarations, and those in charge of keeping exam papers and answer sheets have been tested for the SARS-CoV-2 virus.

The exam will be held in two phases due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the first will take place on July 7-8 for candidates who are virus-free, Trinh said.

Candidates who are the first-generation contact of Covid-19 patients, called F1, candidates who had direct contact with F1 cases and those living in areas under lockdown will sit the exam in the second phase. The official time for the second phase exam will be set later by the MoET, he added.

A rehearsal of the exam organization at Lien Ha Secondary School in Dong Anh district, Hanoi. Photo: Nam Du

Trinh noted that the classification of candidates according to the pandemic situation aims to ensure their rights as well as the enforcement of measures against Covid-19 in the current period.

Candidates who are carriers of the novel coronavirus will be exempted from taking the exam and will graduate automatically, as an exceptional case.

The MoET has required exam officials, teachers, and students to strictly comply with regulations on Covid-19 prevention and control.

All exam locations have been sprayed with disinfectant and backup exam rooms have been prepared for students who have cough or fever and those identified as F2 (those making contact with suspected people).

The ministry has also asked the students’ families not to gather outside the exam venues and issued guidelines to all exam venues to ensure health and safety for both teachers and students.

This graduation tests virtually determine their future career. The exam results would not only fetch them a high-school diploma but also decide admissions to universities and colleges.

Hanoi gets ready 

Hanoi's high schools have so far intensified preparation to ensure safety for people involved in the exams following a request made by Deputy Chairman of the municipal People’s Committee Chu Xuan Dung.

Hanoi leaders inspect the exam preparation work at Be Van Dan Secondary School in Dong Da District, Hanoi. Photo: Quynh Nguyen

The municipal Department of Education and Training has advised over 101,000 graders against leaving the city until after the high school graduation exam to avoid the risk of infection.

Educational officials, teachers, employees of schools wishing to leave the city must have the leaders’ approval and must report when they return and file medical declarations within 24 hours after to the city’s authorities as well as get tested for the virus before the exam day.

The department has established 188 exam centers and mobilized nearly 15,000 teachers for the exam. It also required no more than 24 candidates in each exam room and a distance of 1.2 meters must be kept between candidates.

The city had conducted real-time polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) tests for all candidates and people participating in the exam to ensure safety by July 6.

Hanoi mayor Chu Ngoc Anh requested districts to develop plans to ensure traffic flow on the exam day and closely follow the direction of the city authorities on exam organization and handling of abnormal situations that may arise.

Ho Chi Minh City tests all candidates

Students are tested for the novel coronavirus to prepare for their high school national exams. Photo: Kha Hoa

More than 89,000 candidates sit the first phase of the 2021 national high school graduation exam in Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC), the current biggest Covid-19 hotspot in the country with growing Covid-19 patient counts. All have been tested for Covid-19.

Le Hoai Nam, deputy director of the municipal Education and Training Department said his department is ready for the exam, and the city already arranged two backup exam centers for each official venue in case of incidents.

The city’s Health Department had worked closely with the education sector to screen and update the list of teachers and employees participating in the exam, Nam said, adding that all of them had been tested for SARS-CoV-2.

The education department had developed scenarios for the exam and submitted them to the city administration for approval, he stressed, adding that candidates, teachers, and other staff who will supervise the examination have to strictly comply with Covid-19 prevention regulations.