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HKDSE
Hong KongEducation

Coronavirus: Hong Kong schools take extra precautions – robots included – as thousands prepare to sit university entrance exam

  • Temperature checks, masks and desk distancing play key roles as schools open doors for coronavirus-delayed exams
  • The first test in the month-long process will kick off at 8.30am for the city’s Visual Arts students

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School officials at St Joseph's College demonstrate the distancing measures taken with desks that will be used by DSE exam takers. Photo: Handout
Chan Ho-him
As hundreds of Hong Kong schools gear up for Friday’s kick-off to a university entrance exam delayed by the challenges of the coronavirus pandemic, vigilance is the watchword, with one school even bringing in three robots to boost health control measures.

More than 52,000 candidates will take the month-long Diploma of Secondary Education (DSE) exams – originally scheduled to begin on March 27 – at about 350 exam centres located at secondary schools around the city.

Friday’s first exam was to involve 3,300 Visual Arts students, who would begin their written tests at 8.30am at 51 exam centres. The exams will continue through May 25.

Students have been reminded to arrive about 40 minutes early to undergo temperature checks and disinfection. Those with temperatures exceeding 38 degree Celsius will be asked to leave and see a doctor promptly, with their assessments then based on internal school results.

Exam authorities had earlier distributed 500,000 masks, 200,000 bottles of hand sanitiser and 3,500 sets of disposable gowns and face shields that school officials can quickly don if forced to deal with a student who falls ill during the exam.

All candidates and invigilators are required to wear face masks, and desks now sit about 1.8-meters from each other.

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