There is much emphasis on safety measures at this year’s final examinations to begin on Monday which more than 84,000 students have applied to attend, the Minister of State for Public Education said at the online press conference of the Operational Group responsible for the containment of the coronavirus epidemic held on Sunday.

Zoltán Maruzsa highlighted that the examinations will begin at 9.00 a.m. so that students can reach institutions more easily, and to prevent students and people going to work from mixing. He added that in public transport services will be more frequent, while in the vicinity of institutions and in public areas the police will assist with traffic control.

He repeated that almost all examinations will be written in order to halve the number of face-to-face interactions.

Students will be required to wear face masks on the corridors and in the communal spaces of the institutions hosting the examinations, while during the examinations they are strongly recommended to continue to wear them, he said. He stressed that they had organised all the necessary containment measures, the required face masks and disinfectants had been transported to the institutions concerned, the buildings had been thoroughly cleaned, and the supplies available in toilets and communal spaces had been checked.

The Minister of State indicated that throughout the examinations in institutions the necessary hygiene measures will be upheld, there will be frequent cleaning, the gates and doors of buildings will remain open, and during the examinations windows will be kept open to ensure continuous ventilation. During the examinations, there can be maximum 10 students in each room, with a minimum distance of one and a half metres between them, he said.

Mr Maruzsa pointed out that the examination timetables had been prepared, and elderly teachers as well as teachers suffering from chronic diseases had been relieved of their duties related to the examinations. At the same time, he thanked every teacher who agreed to work during the final examinations because it is thanks to their sacrifice that the examinations could be organised.

The Minister of State said repeatedly that attending the final examinations is not compulsory. He pointed out that final examinations would also be held in the autumn, and students could apply for cross-semester courses in higher education. “Anyone can decide to postpone their examinations, even tomorrow morning,” he stated.

(Cabinet Office of the Prime Minister/MTI)