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MOE unveils health rules for exams

Minister of Education Huang Jong-tsun, left, and Director-General of the Department of Health Chen Chien-jen, right, declare their confidence in SARS-prevention measures for the middle school basic proficiency test and the university entrance exam following a discussion between the two yesterday. PHOTO: GEORGE TSORNG, TAIPEI TIMES

The Ministry of Education yesterday announced its special anti-SARS health regulations for the national Basic Competency Tests scheduled for later this month.

The tests are a two-day compulsory examination for third-year junior-high school students wanting to enter senior-high schools.

An estimated 300,000 students nationwide are expected to sit for the examinations on June 21 and June 22.

Minister of Education Huang Jong-tsun (黃榮村) told a press conference yesterday that all the examinees will have their temperature checked before entering their assigned test rooms.

Students must arrive at the designated test sites at least 30 minutes prior to the start of the exam. If their temperature is higher than 380C, they will not be allowed to enter the test rooms but will be sent to special isolated rooms to take the exams.

In addition, students who have been placed under home quarantine but are not feverish will be able to take the exams in an isolation test room. Student in those rooms will be placed 3m away from each other.

"We're not really worried about students getting infected with SARS while taking the exam." -- Chen Chien-jen, department of health director-general

Students who show up for the exam with temperatures higher than 380C, whether or not they have been in quarantine, will be placed in isolation test rooms with a 2m distance separating them from one another.

Department of Health Director-General Chen Chien-jen (陳建仁), who attended the press conference, said the spacing differences were needed because, "students who were previously quarantined pose a relatively greater chance of getting SARS than those identified on site as feverish, since those people would not transmit the disease within the first two days of getting a fever."

Chen also said given the current decrease of SARS cases nationwide, the chance of having a SARS-infected student take the exam is one in 300,000.

"We're not really worried about students getting infected with SARS while taking the exam. As of today, the number of the third-year junior-high students under home quarantine is down to four, while the number of third-year senior-high students [under quarantine] is 37. By the time the exam is held, I believe the number will be lower," Chen said.

The national college entrance exams for senior-high school students will be held from July 1 to July 3. Health regulations for those exams will be released later, the ministry said.

For junior-high students who have to miss the exam because of SARS, Huang said that there will be compensation measures to provide them with similar test score for their high-school entrance selection.
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