Badihagwa Secondary School students in Port Moresby are using an assembly hall and three classrooms for exams this week to ensure social distancing and observe other Coronavirus (Covid-19) protocols, an official says.
Principal Maru Bala told The National that this had not affected grade nine and 11 classes as there were enough classrooms.
Grade 10 students had completed their exams last week and their classrooms were now free.
Bala said 800 grade 10 students completed their exams last week while 443 grade 12 started their exams yesterday.
He said the students strictly followed the COVID-19 measures such as hand sanitizing, wearing face masks and social distancing.
He said for grade 12, this was the most important exam of their school journey with the results deciding where they would go for their tertiary education.
He said the exam results would be a reflection of the work each student put in to their studies during the course of the school year as well as what they did in the previous years of senior high school.
He thanked the Government for allowing students to sit their exams despite the rising cases of Covid-19.
Jubilee Catholic Secondary School principal Barbara Miles said success in exams depended on understanding the questions and not just on what the student knew.
It really depending on how students understand the exam questions.
It is about understand the questions in order to answer it.
The teachers have done their part to prepare them.
Barbara Miles
Miles said though there were disruptions, teachers worked hard to ensure most topics were covered before the exams.
Education secretary Dr Uke Kombra said 31,817 Grade 12 students would be sitting their national exams nationwide.
He also called on each province to take full responsibility and ensure that students were given all the support they needed to sit the exams.