Exams are so important that, in normal years, students take extreme measures to help students – office hours are changed to prevent students from getting stuck in traffic and to clear the roads, so that the plane The sound of the engines stopping could be stopped. Hearing test.
But this year, even greater planning is needed, as South Korea seeks to conduct tests to protect adolescents from the coronavirus. Students will check their temperature before entering the testing facility and will be required to wear a mask throughout the test.
Arrangements were made for 7,75 students even students to take the test from the quarantine and 35 students who took the positive test of the 35 students for the Covid-1 test till Tuesday.
The exam helps students decide which of the most prestigious colleges they will enroll in and what career path they can pursue – some options, such as medicine, will be discontinued for students who do not get high marks. .
“Every citizen considers the exam a big national event,” Education Minister Yu Yun-hee said in an exclusive interview before the test. Told CNN in
South Korea has been relatively successful in controlling its Covid-19 outbreak, with more than 35,000 cases reported and 529 deaths.
But as students prepare for the biggest test of their high school careers, the country has suffered a third wave, especially in metropolitan Seoul, where half the country’s population lives. One week before the exam, U ordered high schools across the country to close and classes to go to online classes.
It’s like taking a test during a coronavirus
It’s remarkable that South Korea can have all the views on its college placement tests – and refuses to be carefully planned by the authorities.
But it’s hardly a test season in South Korea.
Generally, nervous parents cheer their children on entering testing centers, but this year, Seoul authorities asked parents to refrain from shouting or waiting outside school gates on exam day. Anyone who showed signs of illness was ordered to sit the test in a separate room where the attackers were wearing full hegemat suits.
Students were separated by dividers as they sat for their exams, and the government established ventilation guidelines for exam rooms. Students were prevented from using the cafeteria or waiting hall to minimize contact.
Public health clinics conduct tests until 10pm the day before the exam, to encourage students to diagnose if they have symptoms. Covid tests were preferred for students. A high school teacher in Daejeon, a city south of Seoul, tested positive at 9.30pm on Wednesday. After positive testing of one of his close contacts, dozens of examiners were transferred to reserve staff.
For students taking the exam, those measures made the already difficult exam more stressful. Seoul student Hwang Yun-jai, who is taking the exam for the second time since graduating a year ago, said he studied for 15 hours a day for months, almost on weekends.
“I am very worried (this year) because we need to take the exam in a very bad situation,” he said. “We need to wear masks, and there is a plastic divider on the desk.”
What is the risk?
Officials are taking additional measures for a simple reason: they are anxious to prevent an outbreak associated with the exam.
Unlike the first outbreak, the third wave is spreading among young people, according to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency. And after Thursday’s exam, some students will travel around the country to sit for additional exams conducted by colleges.
“Once we have prepared well, I am scared of the rare sight where an unwanted patient is found among the examinees and the lack of community nitty-gritty begins to spread,” he said. “We are doing our best to prevent such a scenario.”
But for the people, the risk was too great.
In recent weeks, nearly 6,000 people have signed an online petition calling for the exam to be postponed for two weeks. The petition said that now conducting the examination was like throwing students in a pit of fire and questioned whether school education was more important than the health of the children.
In Niti, where high school seniors share exam tips, many students said they were worried they might be forced to separate if they caught Kovid during the exam, meaning that next week they Will miss the extra college exams.
But President Moon Jae-in’s government insisted the test should go ahead.
Although Na Yong-seo, a high school senior from Satellite City outside Seoul, said he had to wear a mask and install a large divider on his desk would make it difficult to concentrate, he was more concerned about the uncertainty caused by the epidemic. The test has already been pushed back once.
“To be honest, I’d like to finish the exam as soon as possible. Of course, it would be dangerous,” he said. “Constant delays and the endless study below will be very difficult for me. I want it to end soon.”
Despite the Covid-19 risk, Hwang, a Seoul student, said he was not too worried about getting infected.
“I think any student would be more concerned about getting bad results in exams than catching Kovid,” he said.
CNN’s Gavon Bay, Son So-mi and Joh Yoon-ji contributed to the reporting from Seoul.
