RIYADH — Boy and girl students of intermediate and secondary levels of public education will sit for their first in-person examination on Wednesday after a hiatus of two years. The Ministry of Education has completed all preparations to hold examinations for the end of the first semester of the current academic year for all levels of government, private and foreign school education. According to the arrangements, all intermediate and secondary school students, who are at the age of 12 or above and have received two doses of vaccination against coronavirus, will be allowed to sit for in-person examination in their schools. This will be in strict compliance with all the coronavirus precautionary measures and preventive protocols to ensure the safety of students. The Ministry of Education recently decided to conduct exams at the end of the first semester for boy and girl students of elementary schools remotely. Their exams, which will be conducted through educational platforms, will commence at 4 p.m. on Wednesday. Remote exams will also be held for intermediate and secondary school students who are not in a position to take coronavirus vaccine on the ground of documented health reasons or for not completing 12 years of age. As for students who did not receive two doses of vaccine, they will be tested remotely through educational platforms. Oral exams and continuous assessment for intermediate and secondary school students started on Nov. 14 and these are being held remotely over a period of three days while practical examinations will be replaced by presentation of projects or research papers or reports. The schools have been instructed to divide students into groups per day according to a schedule set by the school by taking advantage of all classes and facilities. All exams have to be conducted in one session and there will not be exams of more than two subjects in a day. The Ministry of Education, represented by its administration departments in various regions and governorates across the Kingdom, has formed the examination supervision committees to follow up and carry out the activities of the exams. The committees have been tasked to record the skills of the first and second grades of elementary school students, and monitor and evaluate grades for the rest of the grades and levels of education. The committees have to announce results and grade sheets before the end of the working hours of Thursday, Nov. 25, according to the mechanism announced by the ministry.
