ESF students told exams in Hong Kong to go ahead as planned, despite candidate fears of catching coronavirus
- A group of Island School students, part of English Schools Foundation, have asked for non-exam route for International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme
- But school remains adamant in-person examination best way to assess how students perform, won’t consider alternative unless necessary
Students at an international school group in Hong Kong will not be allowed to skip exams in late April amid an ongoing coronavirus outbreak, despite candidates voicing fears of cross-infection.
With the city reporting more than 20,000 Covid-19 cases daily, a group of Island School students, part of the English Schools Foundation (ESF), argued they should be allowed to take a non-exam route for their International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme.
Programme organiser, the International Baccalaureate (IB), has offered a “dual route” for assessing candidates since 2021, allowing students to be graded by internal coursework and teachers’ predicted grades in the event exams cannot take place because of a coronavirus outbreak.
Students unable to sit exams are guaranteed their final results will not be worse than their internal assessment scores and predicted grades based on schoolwork.
IB previously relied on internal grades to assess students in 2020 when examinations were cancelled around the world during the early stages of the Covid-19 pandemic.
ESF, which includes seven secondary schools that offer the IB diploma programme, told the Post this week that in-person examinations were the best method for grading students. The foundation also adopted the same stance last year.
