Hong Kong News

Nonpartisan, Noncommercial, unconstrained.
Thursday, Dec 26, 2024

Exam centre for Hong Kong DSE takers who test positive for Covid to be in Kowloon

Exam centre for Hong Kong DSE takers who test positive for Covid to be in Kowloon

Authorities reveal former campus of Cognitio College (Kowloon) in San Po Kong as location for Covid-positive students.

A designated centre for Covid-positive candidates sitting Hong Kong’s university entrance exams will be set up in Kowloon, authorities have said, while defending a requirement for all students to wear masks despite the lifting of the mandate.

Secretary General of the Hong Kong Examination Assessment Authority Wei Xiangdong on Thursday said the former campus of Cognitio College (Kowloon), located in San Po Kong, would be turned into a centre for takers of the Diploma of Secondary Education (DSE) exams who tested positive for the virus.

Wei also defended the requirement for all candidates to wear masks despite the lifting of the mandate, saying the test results would have a great impact on students’ future prospects and that the measure was adopted after discussions with the school sector.

Students taking the university entrance exams in 2022.


Ricardo Mak King-sang, director of public examinations, said the location of the centre was easy to access.

“It’s convenient for candidates to go there if they make the decision to go there earlier that day,” he said.

Personnel who had worked at last year’s designated centre would be invited to serve as invigilators again at the new one, he added.

Mak said only pupils who had a fever were required to take a rapid antigen test before sitting the exams, unlike last year when it was mandatory for all candidates.

But he noted all candidates would still be required to check their body temperature and sign a health declaration form before going to the exam centre, and also use alcohol-based hand sanitisers.

Feverish students who tested negative for Covid-19 should take a photo of their test results for record, the authority said, as they might be asked to show it to staff if their temperature was found to be abnormal at the centre.

Covid-positive candidates who decided to sit the exam should call the public examinations information centre to make a request by 7.30am on the day of the test before heading there.

Pupils who returned a positive result for the virus could also choose not to sit the exam as those who could not take the test, due to medical reasons or special circumstances resulting from the pandemic, may be considered for an assessed subject result up to Level 5, under a seven-level grading scale.

The latest arrangement differs from last year’s when pupils with the virus had to be driven in designated taxis to an exam centre in Penny’s Bay on Lantau Island. The government’s Covid-19 isolation facilities have been closed following an improvement in the city’s pandemic situation.

Some flexible measures, such as delaying the starting time of the exams, might be adopted at authorities’ discretion if candidates arrived late, the director said.

Mak stressed that the centre could accommodate all candidates in need given the pandemic had subsided, but he stopped short of revealing its capacity.

The special centre set up at the Penny’s Bay isolation facility welcomed 44 candidates to sit exams last year.

Head of the Subsidised Secondary School Council Lee Yi-ying said ideally designated centres should also be set up in the New Territories and Hong Kong Island as the commute to San Po Kong could be long for some candidates living in certain areas.

But she conceded it was difficult for the exam authorities to secure such venues.

A total of 50,823 candidates have registered to sit the DSE this year – 759 more than in 2022. It marks the first increase after yearly declines since 2014, with more than 4,000 markers hired to grade students’ work.

Newsletter

Related Articles

Hong Kong News
0:00
0:00
Close
It's always the people with the dirty hands pointing their fingers
Paper straws found to contain long-lasting and potentially toxic chemicals - study
FTX's Bankman-Fried headed for jail after judge revokes bail
Blackrock gets half a trillion dollar deal to rebuild Ukraine
Steve Jobs' Son Launches Venture Capital Firm With $200 Million For Cancer Treatments
Google reshuffles Assistant unit, lays off some staffers, to 'supercharge' products with A.I.
End of Viagra? FDA approved a gel against erectile dysfunction
UK sanctions Russians judges over dual British national Kara-Murza's trial
US restricts visa-free travel for Hungarian passport holders because of security concerns
America's First New Nuclear Reactor in Nearly Seven Years Begins Operations
Southeast Asia moves closer to economic unity with new regional payments system
Political leader from South Africa, Julius Malema, led violent racist chants at a massive rally on Saturday
Today Hunter Biden’s best friend and business associate, Devon Archer, testified that Joe Biden met in Georgetown with Russian Moscow Mayor's Wife Yelena Baturina who later paid Hunter Biden $3.5 million in so called “consulting fees”
'I am not your servant': IndiGo crew member, passenger get into row over airline meal
Singapore Carries Out First Execution of a Woman in Two Decades Amid Capital Punishment Debate
Spanish Citizenship Granted to Iranian chess player who removed hijab
US Senate Republican Mitch McConnell freezes up, leaves press conference
Speaker McCarthy says the United States House of Representatives is getting ready to impeach Joe Biden.
San Francisco car crash
This camera man is a genius
3D ad in front of Burj Khalifa
Next level gaming
BMW driver…
Google testing journalism AI. We are doing it already 2 years, and without Google biased propoganda and manipulated censorship
Unlike illegal imigrants coming by boats - US Citizens Will Need Visa To Travel To Europe in 2024
Musk announces Twitter name and logo change to X.com
The politician and the journalist lost control and started fighting on live broadcast.
The future of sports
Unveiling the Black Hole: The Mysterious Fate of EU's Aid to Ukraine
Farewell to a Music Titan: Tony Bennett, Renowned Jazz and Pop Vocalist, Passes Away at 96
Alarming Behavior Among Florida's Sharks Raises Concerns Over Possible Cocaine Exposure
Transgender Exclusion in Miss Italy Stirs Controversy Amidst Changing Global Beauty Pageant Landscape
Joe Biden admitted, in his own words, that he delivered what he promised in exchange for the $10 million bribe he received from the Ukraine Oil Company.
TikTok Takes On Spotify And Apple, Launches Own Music Service
Global Trend: Using Anti-Fake News Laws as Censorship Tools - A Deep Dive into Tunisia's Scenario
Arresting Putin During South African Visit Would Equate to War Declaration, Asserts President Ramaphosa
Hacktivist Collective Anonymous Launches 'Project Disclosure' to Unearth Information on UFOs and ETIs
Typo sends millions of US military emails to Russian ally Mali
Server Arrested For Theft After Refusing To Pay A Table's $100 Restaurant Bill When They Dined & Dashed
The Changing Face of Europe: How Mass Migration is Reshaping the Political Landscape
China Urges EU to Clarify Strategic Partnership Amid Trade Tensions
The Last Pour: Anchor Brewing, America's Pioneer Craft Brewer, Closes After 127 Years
Democracy not: EU's Digital Commissioner Considers Shutting Down Social Media Platforms Amid Social Unrest
Sarah Silverman and Renowned Authors Lodge Copyright Infringement Case Against OpenAI and Meta
Why Do Tech Executives Support Kennedy Jr.?
The New York Times Announces Closure of its Sports Section in Favor of The Athletic
BBC Anchor Huw Edwards Hospitalized Amid Child Sex Abuse Allegations, Family Confirms
Florida Attorney General requests Meta CEO's testimony on company's platforms' alleged facilitation of illicit activities
The Distorted Mirror of actual approval ratings: Examining the True Threat to Democracy Beyond the Persona of Putin
40,000 child slaves in Congo are forced to work in cobalt mines so we can drive electric cars.
×