It’s exam hell with a twist for about 750 cross-boundary students awaiting their all-important entrance exams for Hong Kong universities. The high-stakes exams are stressful enough on their own, and add to that is the mandatory two-week quarantine for travelers crossing the border from the Chinese mainland.
Li Ying lives in Shenzhen, but sallied forth into Hong Kong on March 1, to start her 14 days of quarantined life at the home of a classmate, and to catch up on cramming for her exams.
Now I cannot leave Hong Kong during the long period of exams. Many of us cross-boundary examinees were looking for housing by ourselves
Li Ying, 18-year-old examine living in Shenzhen
“Now I cannot leave Hong Kong during the long period of exams. Many of us cross-boundary examinees were looking for housing by ourselves,” the 18-year-old told China Daily. “I agree with these measures during the epidemic, though it did cause trouble for me.”
The Form-Six student at Pui Kiu Middle School in North Point said she will relocate to the school’s dormitory ahead of the Diploma of Secondary Education exams beginning March 27.
Principal Ng Wun-kit said the school has 13 cross-boundary DSE candidates this year. Seven can move in with their relatives or friends. The rest have to stare out the windows of government facilities or hotel rooms while their freedom of movement is restricted.
The school has now decided to open its dormitory, which was supposed to close after classes were suspended amid the epidemic. The dorms will remain open until all the tests are completed for those in need of accommodation like Li.
Ng said it’s a risky move because students moving back into the dorms could expose everyone to the coronavirus, if one gets infected.
“I am pleased with this school’s offer. I don’t want to trouble my classmate’s family for too long,” said Li.
The girl is lucky. Only 13 of the city’s some 500 secondary schools run on-site residence halls for their pupils.
More than 52,000 high school graduates are bracing to take the DSE exams, like their future depends on them — and it may. A few oral tests have been postponed to May. This means some cross-boundary candidates will have to stay in Hong Kong for a full span of two months, if the epidemic is not under control by then.
Secondary school heads in Hong Kong’s North and Tai Po districts said they planned to turn vacation camps nearby into study camps to accommodate about 150 candidates who have no place to stay during the exam period. So far 130 students have decided to check into those camps set to open in late March.
Principal Fong Iek-leong, chairman of North District Secondary School Headmasters Conference, said study camps are fully subsidized by schools and therefore cross-boundary candidates don’t have to pay, since many come from less advantaged families.
Students still have to come to Hong Kong early and endure the mandatory quarantine before moving into the study camps, Fong noted.
A cross-boundary candidate surnamed Kwong at Fanling Lutheran Secondary School said she will move into the study camp operating from March 27 to early May. Schools in North district, in vicinity to Shenzhen, have the largest proportion of cross-boundary candidates — up to 120 students.
Cross-boundary Social Service of International Social Service HK, a non-governmental organization, said it is considering offering rental subsidies to affected candidates if they cannot get into study camps.
“Honestly, I don’t recommend setting up study camps that bring candidates together. The epidemic has not been contained as we are seeing new local community infections,” said Iris Liu Kam-fung, a program director of the organization.
She said the government has a duty to house these students and to ensure they have equal access to personal anti-virus equipment and learning resources to revise for their exams.
“It’s the final stretch for them. The sudden relocation to a new residence without family support will still affect them more or less,” Liu added.
DSE candidate Tony Lee, currently under quarantine in the designated Chun Yeung public housing estate, said he is in big trouble due to a lack of revision materials.
“My mom did not manage to send my textbooks to the quarantine center. The government does not have special arrangements for me. I don’t have a computer or a printer,” the 19-year-old told China Daily on Thursday, a day after his return to the city.
He is one of the 10 DSE candidates who flew back to the city this week from Hubei province — the epicenter of the COVID-19 epidemic, on flights chartered by the Hong Kong government.
“My school teachers will come here in the next few days, bringing some test papers to me”, Lee said. He had hoped the tests could be delayed for a month so that he would have more time to prepare.
In an online student poll of 11,446 DSE candidates in late February, 93 percent said this epidemic has upset their schedules for exam revision.
Chen Zimo contributed to this story.
