Hanoi (VNS/VNA) - The high school graduation exam will begin on July 7 morningfor millions of students, with strict COVID-19 measures in place as the fourthwave of infections has seen complicated developments.

Studentsnationwide will do their literature tests in the morning and maths in theafternoon of the same day.

Theexam is being held with the COVID-19 pandemic still developing in acomplex manner in many localities, so pandemic prevention work has been akey focus for the education sector.

Candidateswill have their temperature checked and have their hands disinfectedbefore entering the test sites, while they must wear masks during the exam.

Eachtest site will be sprayed with disinfectant and medical staff will be onduty during the exams, while isolation rooms and backup exam rooms have beenarranged if any students need to be isolated due to contact with a COVID-19patient.

Medicalstaff have also been placed on alert to respond if any candidatesshow COVID-19 symptoms.

Previously,exam boards held rehearsals to prepare for the exam.

OnJuly 6 morning, the examiners met together at the test sites to go over examregulations.

Inthe afternoon, candidates visited their test sites and completed theexamination preparation procedures.

OnJuly 6, candidates were reminded to bring their exam notice, review theinformation on the exam paper and the candidate's information, and promptlyreport to the examination staff for correction if there are any errors.

Candidateswere also informed by the examination staff about exam rules and remindedof banned items.

DeputyMinister of Education and Training Nguyen Huu Do said the pandemic situationwas more complex this year than in 2020. 

"Ifin 2020 the infected cases only appeared in a few localities, this year thepandemic spread wider.

"Sofar now, there have been more than 50 provinces/cities in the country withinfections, of which some localities such as Ho Chi Minh City, Bac Giang, DongNai, Binh Duong and Phu Yen have had a large number of infections.

"Therefore,the biggest difficulty is how to cope with the pandemic, ensuring thehealth and safety of students, teachers, and to organise a strict and fairexam," he said.

Positivetest results

Amongmore than 85,000 candidates who will sit for the national high schoolgraduation examination on July 7-8 in HCM City, 18 pooled samplestested positive for coronavirus.  

Healthofficials are testing each of the candidates who were included in thepooled samples.

Candidateswho tested negative for coronavirus will sit the exam as scheduled.

Thosepositive for coronavirus will sit the exam at a later time.The Ministry of Education and Training has not set the date yet./.