DSEs Underway As Schools Take Extra Precautions

The first of tens of thousands of Hong Kong students began sitting their DSE exams on Friday, a month after they were originally scheduled to begin, with some armed with disinfectant wipes and multiple face masks due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Schools were taking extra precautionary measures of their own, checking the temperatures of students and making them sign health declaration forms stating they are not sick or meant to be under compulsory quarantine.

Any found to have temperatures above 38 degrees Celsius would be refused entry. But after the first check, any students suspected of having a fever would be allowed to wait five to 10 minutes and then have their temperature tested again.

Candidates were also being made to wear face masks and disinfect their hands before going into exam venues, and desks were kept further apart than usual.

Students were seen arriving at exam venues around half an hour early. Some told RTHK they had come armed with their own disinfectant wipes just in case, and one had brought along five face masks.

One student sitting a visual arts exam at Carmel Secondary School in Ho Man Tin was made to undergo a temperature check several times and was planning to arrive earlier for the next exam in case this happens again.

Speaking to reporters later in the afternoon, Dr So Kwok-sang, the secretary-general for the Examinations and Assessment Authority, said around 3,360 students took part in the city’s first DSE exam on Friday and that it was held smoothly at 51 schools.

So also confirmed that five candidates who reported feeling sick were absent from the exam, and one student who reported having respiratory symptoms at an exam centre left the venue without taking the test.

After the authorities revealed there were no newly confirmed Covid-19 cases on Friday, So said he was cautiously optimistic that the rest of the exams will go ahead as scheduled.

“I’m optimistic, but again conservative that the situation will change day-by-day. So we [will] just continue to pray that this situation will continue with less and less confirmed cases, that the exams could be continued as scheduled.”

Many students had criticised officials for the uncertainty over the timing of this year's DSE exams, with some anxious to get them out of the way, but others saying they didn't think it was safe to take them during the Covid-19 pandemic.