DSE Exams To Go Ahead, Special Site For The Infected

Education Secretary Kevin Yeung said on Monday that the city's university entrance exams will go ahead as scheduled now that the coronavirus outbreak is easing.

The Diploma of Secondary Education exam period will start on April 22 and end on May 14.

Candidates are required to take Covid rapid antigen tests and fill in health declaration forms before the exams.

A special exam centre will be set up at the Penny's Bay quarantine facility for candidates who are infected with coronavirus or are close contacts of Covid patients.

The Education Bureau said the centre will be able to accommodate more than 1,000 exam candidates.

Yeung said students who are infected should consider carefully whether they ought to sit the exams, based on their own health condition.

"You may feel unwell if you carry the virus but only the candidates themselves know if they are fit enough to take the exams. If you have a sore throat, fever and headache, can you do your best during the exam? Is it good for your health as the exam could be quite stressful?"

"We're just offering an option for the candidates as some of them may not have symptoms even if they are infected with Omicron," he added.

Students should contact the authorities before 6:30am if they test positive for Covid-19 on the day of their exam.

If they would like to continue to take the exam, authorities will arrange anti-epidemic taxis to take them to Penny's Bay.

Yeung warned students against covering up infections, saying this would put the safety of other exam candidates and invigilators at risk.

The exam results will be released on July 20.