Coronavirus: Ministry briefs pupils on rules for final year exams

Final year secondary school pupils must comply with certain coronavirus measures in order to be able to sit the Pancyprian exams, the Education Ministry said on Friday.

In line with the measures applying for the rest of the population, all pupils must carry the following:

• a negative rapid antigen test or PCR test taken up to 72 hours prior to the examination, OR
• a vaccination certificate showing they received at least one dose of the anti-coronavirus vaccine three weeks prior, OR
• proof they were infected with coronavirus in the last six months.

Pupils who are tested at the health ministry’s rapid testing sites must take with them their ID card and a registration certificate for the Pancyprian exams, which will grant them priority.

The ministry suggests that at the latest, rapid tests are taken by noon on the day before the exam to leave a sufficient time window for the education and health ministries to act in case of a positive case.

If a pupil tests positive or is classified as a close contact of a positive case, they will still be able to sit the exam in one of the separate examination centres designated by the ministry for this purpose.

To this end, the Education Ministry urges everyone to give the correct information about their close contacts so that they can be informed about their examination centres on time.

Those who are self-isolating as positive cases or contacts, and whose self-isolation does not end before their first exam, must contact the ministry at [email protected].

Finally, the Education Ministry called on pupils and their parents to be particularly careful during the exam period by limiting their contacts and trying their best to comply to measures to avoid being infected with coronavirus or becoming a contact.