Rokiah Mahmud
The Brunei Cambridge General Certificate of Education (BCGCE) for ‘O’, ‘AS’, ‘A’ Levels as well as the International General Certificate of Secondary Education (IGCSE) for the May and June session this year will be held in person, under agreement by the Ministry of Education (MoE) and the Cambridge Assessment for International Education (CIE).
This was announced by Minister of Education Dato Seri Setia Awang Haji Hamzah bin Haji Sulaiman during the daily press conference at Al-‘Afiah Hall, Ministry of Health yesterday.
According to the minister, the decision was made after discussions with stakeholders, including CIE, in seeking the best ways to conduct the examinations, by taking into account the high vaccination rate in the Sultanate, especially among students that will be sitting for the examinations.
Discussions between the MoE through the Education Affairs Task Force and the Steering Committee for COVID-19 looked into the needs of private candidates in obtaining grades and ensuring that they are able to pursue tertiary education.
Based on the discussions, the committee supported the decision to carry out the BCGCE ‘O’, ‘AS’, ‘A’ Level and IGCSE examinations for the May-June 2022 session in person provided that the standard operating procedures (SOPs) that have been outlined. The examinations scheduled for May and June 2022 will start with oral examinations this month.
Candidates are required to have green, yellow or red BruHealth code with no symptoms in order to sit for their examination, the minister said. Candidates with purple BruHealth code are not encouraged to sit for the examinations, he added.
Sanitisation of the examination areas will be conducted before and after the examinations.
The minister also said antigen rapid test (ART) kits and face masks will be supplied to all examinees for every sitting.
Meanwhile, candidates that are ill are not allowed to sit for the examination, even in separate venues, the minister said.
However, “the matter has been outlined in the Cambridge Handbook”, the minister added, outlining exceptions for candidates that are unwell.
“Special consideration will be given for candidates who are not able to sit for their exams due to COVID-19 or other illnesses by attaching a confirmation letter from a doctor or health centre. They will be assessed through the remaining examination components that carry weight in the syllabus.
“For candidates who are unable to sit for all examination papers or components due to illnesses, CIE allows these candidates to withdraw and their registration fee refunded.
The minister added, “The final period to decide whether to withdraw from the examination is within seven days after all examination sessions have been conducted, which falls on June 17.”
