The tests are so significant that, in normal years, students take extreme measures to support students – the roads are cleared by changing office hours to avoid students getting stuck in traffic and flights are rearranged so that the sound of the plane’s engine is not interrupted in English. Hearing test.
But this year, even greater planning is needed, as South Korea tries to hold exams while protecting teenagers from the coronavirus. Students will have their temperature checked before entering the test facilities and will be required to wear a mask throughout the exam.
Arrangements were also made for 3,775 students to take tests from the quarantine, and Covid-1 students who had taken the positive test by Tuesday were seated to take the test from the hospital bed.
Exams help determine if students will make it a very prestigious college and what career path they can take – some options, such as medicine, will be turned off to students who have not scored high-enough.
“Every citizen considers the exam a big national event,” Education Minister UN-HA told CNN in an exclusive interview before the exam.
With more than 35,000 cases and 529 deaths, South Korea has been relatively successful in controlling its Covid-19 outbreak.
But as students prepare for the biggest exam of their high-school careers, the country has suffered a third wave of cases, particularly in metropolitan Seoul, where half the country’s population lives. One week before the exam, the UA ordered high schools across the country to close and switch off shutline classes.
It is like being tested during coronavirus
It is remarkable that South Korea can hold its college ledge placement tests exactly – and carefully planned by the authorities.
But in South Korea it’s exam season as always.
Normally, nervous parents reassure their children about entering test centers, but this year, Seoul officials told parents to stop cheering or waiting outside school gates on exam day. Anyone who showed signs of illness was ordered to sit on the test in a separate room where the invigilators wore full hazmat suits.
The students were separated from the dividers as soon as they sat for the test and the government installed ventilation guidelines for the examination rooms. Students were prohibited from using cafeterias or waiting halls to reduce contact.
To encourage students to diagnose if they have symptoms, tests were conducted by public health clinics until 10pm the day before the exam. Covid tests for students were preferred. A high school teacher in the city of Daejeon, south of Seoul, took the test positive around 9.30pm on Wednesday night. After a positive test of one of their close contacts, dozens of examination staff were placed for reserve staff.
For students taking the exam, the move made the already difficult exam more stressful. Seoul student Hwang Yun-jae, who took the exam for the second time after graduating the previous year, said he studied for about 15 hours a day, including months and weekends.
“I’m more concerned (this year) because we need to take the exam in a worse condition,” he said. “We need to wear a mask, and there’s a plastic divider on the desk.”
What is the risk?
Officials are taking additional steps for one simple reason: they are scrambling to prevent an examination-related epidemic.
Unlike previous outbreaks, the third wave is spreading to younger people, according to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency. And after Thursday’s exam, some students will travel around the country for additional exams taken by colleges.
“Once we have made full preparations, I am scared of the rare sight where an undiagnosed patient is seen among the examinees and the spread of the community begins,” the education minister said. “We are making every effort to prevent such a situation.”
But for the people, the risk was too great.
In recent weeks, nearly 6,000 people signed the petition online, calling for the exam to be postponed for two weeks. The petition said holding the exam now was “like throwing students into a fire pit” and questioned whether schooling was more important than children’s health.
Communities In online communities where high school seniors share exam tips, many students said they are worried that if they catch Kovid during the exam they may be forced to isolate, meaning they may miss the extra college exam the following week.
But President Moon Jae-in’s government was adamant that the exam must go ahead.
However, Yeong-coo, a high school senior from the satellite city outside Seoul, said the mask he wore and the large divider on his desk would be difficult to focus on, he was more concerned about the uncertainty brought about by the epidemic. , A given test has already been pushed back once.
“To be honest, I want to complete the exam as soon as possible. Of course, it would be risky,” he said. “The constant delays and the endless study below will be very difficult for me. I want it to end soon.”
Despite the Covid-19 risk, Seoul student Hwang said he was not worried about getting infected.
“I think any student would be more concerned about getting a bad exam result than catching Kovid,” he said.
CNN’s Gavon Ba, Son So-Mai and Joh Yoon-ga contributed to the report from Seoul.
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