Students queue up to have their body temperature checked before sitting the national high school exam. Nearly one million students begin the exam amid the complicated Covid-19 pandemic - PHOTO: LDO

HCMC – Nearly one million students nationwide today, July 8, began the national high school exam, which is considered a special one as the Covid-19 pandemic has been raging in many localities.

Determined to organize the exam seriously and safely, many cities and provinces have employed strict anti-pandemic measures and mobilized resources to support the students, the local media reported.

The exam began with a 120-minute literature test in the morning and a 90-minute math test in the afternoon.

Tomorrow, the students will take a 150-minute natural science or social science test in the morning and a 60-minute foreign language test in the afternoon.

On July 6, the students completed exam procedures and learned about the exam regulations.

The national high school exam this year will be held in two phases, with the first phase on July 7 and 8, and the second phase organized for candidates who are Covid-19 patients, those in direct and indirect contact with Covid-19 cases and those in areas under lockdown.

More than 27,000 students, including nearly 14,400 pandemic-hit students, across the country could not take the exam in the first phase.

According to the HCMC Center for Disease Control, medical workers have been assigned to exam venues. They will check the body temperature of the students and provide instructions at the entrances of exam venues.

At each exam venue, there will be a room for temporary quarantine, where students who develop fever and cough symptoms will be taken to, as they wait for medical workers from the medical centers of districts to arrive.