The Ministry of Education, Youth and Sport has set December 21 to convene the Higher Secondary Diploma examinations for the 2019-2020 school year. The ministry also submitted measures to ensure the smooth organisation of the examination and to prevent the spread of Covid-19.

The directive, signed by Minister Hang Chuon Naron on Wednesday, said that due to Covid-19, schools across the country were temporarily closed and examination postponed.

Since the spread of the disease is under control and the ministry received permission from the government, it decided to set December 21 as the date for the high school diploma examinations.

“On the afternoon of December 17th, a meeting will be held to introduce members of the examination committee across the country, the National Block Supervisor and the director of the ministry’s writing centre in Phnom Penh.

“On December 18, all these committees will bring the examination papers to local authorities in provinces and towns,” the directive said.

The list of candidates, the examination schedule, subjects and regulations, room layouts, and other documents will be posted on December 20.

The ministry said the grading process will take place from December 24 to 30 at collection centres in Phnom Penh, and the verification of examinations and results may continue until mid-January.

Chuon Naron said educational institutions are to be divided between science examination centres and social science examination centres.

He said each examination room will hold 25 candidates. Each centre must have between 20 and 25 rooms, except for some provinces with a small number of candidates.

“Two more reservation rooms will be set up in each centre. One room will be used for candidates with temperatures above 38 Celsius and another for first aid equipment.

“Officials must cooperate closely with the capital-provincial Health Departments and operational district health centres to take temperatures and provide health certificates to candidates,” Chuon Naron said.

Oddar Meanchey provincial Department of Education director Pech Ratana told The Post on Thursday that his province is ready to open schools on September 7.

The schools are focused on the education of Grade 9 and Grade 12 students. The province has already prepared three examination centres with 20 rooms per centre for Grade 12 candidates, of which there are more than 1,400.

“At this stage, we have started to review some lessons from the second semester. From the beginning of December to December 21, we will strengthen the students’ attention,” Ratana said.

As the study time is shorter than usual, Ratana encouraged all students to put in more effort to study and take care of their health.