Students Arrive Hours Early For DSE Exams

Some secondary school students taking university entrance examinations turned up hours early on Monday, to make sure they had time to navigate the various infection control measures in place at exam centres to prevent the spread of the coronavirus.

Close to 50,000 candidates were taking an exam for Liberal Studies, a core subject of the Hong Kong Diploma of Secondary Education.

The exam started at 8.30am but some students arrived as early as 6.00am, with queues forming outside some venues.

A student at an exam centre in Kowloon City said he showed up early as he expected it would take some time for him to go through the health checks, including temperature tests.

“There’re many additional measures, like some students will be diverted to take their exams inside a classroom instead of the school hall… all of us will have to submit health declaration forms. So I came early to be on the safe side,” he said.

He said he was quite prepared to wear a face mask during the exam.

“I’ve been wearing a face mask when doing revision every day for two months to get used to it,” he said.

Another student said she would inform the invigilator about her serious allergy problem, as she would probably be sneezing during the exam.

“I’m worried I may disturb others. When I took the chemistry exam last week, I kept taking off my mask to sneeze. I could tell other candidates were scared of me. I will ask the invigilator today if I can sit at the corner,” she said.

The exams which have been underway since Friday were pushed back from March 27 due to the coronavirus pandemic.