A total of 9,182 candidates on Saturday sat for the annual qualification exam for preschool, elementary, junior-high and high-school teachers under strict COVID-19 prevention measures, the Ministry of Education said.
It was the first mass exam carried out since a nationwide level 3 COVID-19 alert was issued on May 19.
Candidates took the exam in 41 test centers across the nation, the Department of Teacher and Art Education said in a statement on Saturday.
Taipei and New Taipei City had five test centers each; Taichung had four; Taoyuan, Tainan and Kaohsiung had three each; and Changhua, Chiayi, Hsinchu and Pingtung counties had two each; while Keelung, and Miaoli, Nantou, Yunlin, Yilan, Hualien, Taitung, Kinmen, Lienchiang and Penghu counties had one each, it said.
Deputy Minister of Education Tsai Ching-hwa (蔡清華) supervised the exam until it was completed from a response center, the department said.
It said that 10,440 applicants had been eligible to take the exam, including 67 with special needs.
Exam officials made accommodations, including providing computers designed for people with visual impairments, test papers with enlarged print, time extensions and easily accessible desks and chairs, and arranged easily accessible test locations, it said.
Measures to prevent the spread of COVID-19 were strictly enforced during this year’s exam, the department said.
Candidates were required to wear masks throughout the process, it said, adding that test centers were air-conditioned and ventilated.
The maximum seating capacity in each room was lowered to 20 people and infrared thermal imaging cameras were used to screen candidates’ body temperatures, the department said.
Candidates whose forehead temperature exceeded 37.5°C or whose ear temperature was higher than 38°C had their temperatures measured again, while those confirmed to have a fever were led to a backup site to take their exam, it said.
Dividers were set up for candidates who ate their lunches at the test centers and common areas were disinfected between each test session, it said.
Extra supplies of hand sanitizer and alcohol were also provided, and each test center was disinfected again at the end of the exams, the department added.
The exam results are to be posted online at noon on Aug. 28.
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