Giving utmost importance to the National Campaign for COVID-19 vaccination, the Ministry of Education and Higher Education has coordinated with the Ministry of Public Health (MoPH) to avoid overlapping of dates of school exams with vaccine appointments for the students.
“If the dates clash, the students will be given a chance to appear in the second round of examinations,” said Adviser to the Minister of Education and Higher Education, Mohamad Al Bashri, while speaking in a Qatar TV programme yesterday.
The second-semester exams of secondary school certificates for the academic year 2020-21 started yesterday. He said about 70 percent students from secondary schools have been vaccinated against COVID-19.
“So far, with the cooperation of MoPH, 97 percent school staff including teachers, administrators, and workers in government and private schools have been vaccinated fully against COVID-19,” said Al Bashri.
He said it is mandatory for students from grades 1 to 12 to take the examinations in person in their schools. “Only students infected with COVID-19 and those who came in contact with infected persons are exempted from the examinations. Such students will show a medical certificate issued by MoPH to get the chance in the second round of examinations,” said Al Bashri.
He said under the preparation for examinations, all government and private schools operating in the country have been disinfected to curb the spread of COVID-19.
“Buses transporting students are being disinfected on a daily basis and preventive measures have been implemented for the drivers.” He said teams from the Ministry of Education and Higher Education and MoPH are conducting inspections in government and private schools on a daily basis to ensure compliance with preventive measures.
Speaking about the impact of pandemic on quality of education, Al Bashri said there is a minor dropout due to lack of classroom teaching because of the pandemic. However, exam results in the previous year and this year show good performance of students, he said.
Speaking in a separate programme of Qatar TV, Head of Examination Affairs Section at the Student Evaluation Department at the Ministry, Ibrahim Al Mohannadi, said the students performed well on the first day of examination of secondary school certificates for the end of second semester of the academic year 2020-21.
“The students took examination of Islamic studies on the first day. The preliminary report submitted by the Examination Control Committee augured well about the performance of students,” he said, adding the first day of the examinations was conducted smoothly. “The committee for health and safety at the Ministry of Education and Higher Education held a number of meetings with departments concerned at MoPH to ensure the health and safety of students during examinations,” said Al Mohannadi.
He said that during the meetings, they agreed to allow 15 students in a classroom and 60 students in a gymnasium at maximum to maintain social distancing, following COVID-19 preventive measures.
“The Ministry of Education and Higher Education gives top priority to the safety and health of students. The schools made necessary arrangements following the protocols and preventive measures to ensure a smooth examination process,” said Al Mohannadi.
