As of November 12, more than 128,000 students had registered for the high school diploma, or Grade 12, examinations scheduled for December 5-6, according to Ministry of Education, Youth and Sport spokesman Ros Soveacha.

Among the 128,136 candidates, 68,773 of them women, 42,936 registered under the science curriculum and 85,200 under social sciences.

Citing provisional figures, Soveacha said there are 221 testing centres, an increase of 17 from last year.

As the exams are drawing ever closer, Soveacha called on candidates to study hard and their parents or guardians to provide plenty of motivation and encouragement.

“Candidates should be following their individual study plans, while continuing to work hard in the classroom ... Make sure you get enough rest, maintain a healthy diet and be sure to observe traffic laws,” he said.

On November 14, the ministry arranged a workshop on the roles and responsibilities of the subject committee for the Grade 12 exams to ensure the examination and correction processes both go smoothly.

Although the Covid-19 situation has improved markedly, the ministry will continue to implement preventive measures and will issue operational guidelines on health and safety to each of the testng centres to stave off the virus.