RIYADH – The Ministry of Education has announced on Tuesday the dates of examinations for the end of the first semester of the current academic year for all levels of government, private and foreign school education. The examinations will commence on Wednesday, Nov. 17 (Rabi al-Thani 12). Oral exams and continuous assessment for intermediate and secondary school students will begin on Sunday, Nov. 14 and these will be held remotely during a period of three days while practical examinations will be replaced by presentation of projects or research papers or reports. The ministry has also decided to conduct exams for boy and girl students of elementary schools remotely at the end of the first semester. Their exams will start at 4 pm while the exams for those intermediate and secondary school students, who are at the age of 12 or above and received two doses of vaccination, will be held in-person at their schools. This will be in strict compliance with all the coronavirus precautionary measures and preventive protocols to ensure the safety of students. 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. Remote exams have to be conducted through educational platforms 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 have to be tested remotely through educational platforms. The Ministry of Education has formed the exam 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.
