- Education authorities say they need more time to discuss set up of assessment centres for Diploma of Secondary Education exams across the border
- 110 mainland pupils will take the exams as school representatives rather than individuals for the first time
Mainland pupils taking the Hong Kong DSE exams will need to travel to the city to sit for the tests. Photo: Dickson LeeMainland Chinese secondary students taking Hong Kong’s university entrance exams this year will still need to do the tests in the city. More than 100 pupils will need to travel to the city after education authorities said setting up assessment centres across the border would need more discussions.
The Hong Kong Examinations and Assessment Authority said on Thursday that the transport of test papers, security, invigilating-staff training and on-site support would need to be thrashed out before Diploma of Secondary Education (DSE) exams could be held outside the city.
“We will identify suitable local examination venues and arrange for candidates from the two schools to take the examinations,” an authority spokeswoman said.
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She added all mainland candidates would get their admission form and details of their Hong Kong exam centres early next month.
Private candidates and pupils from other mainland schools will also have to travel to Hong Kong if they want to sit the exams, as they have in the past.
The authority earlier announced that 110 Form Six pupils from the two mainland-based schools that offered DSE exams would sit the tests this year for the first time as part of their schools rather than as private candidates.
This means they will be assessed with school candidates in Hong Kong on the same scale. More than 43,000 youngsters took the tests last year.
About 250 private candidates signed up for the test last year using identity documents other than Hong Kong ID cards, but it is not clear if all were from the mainland.
The announcement that mainland institutions could present their pupils as school candidates, rather than as individuals, from this year came around four months after Shenzhen Hong Kong Pui Kiu College Longhua Xinyi School and the Affiliated School of Jinan University for Hong Kong and Macau’s Students, were approved as DSE “participating schools”.
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Hong Kong schools are usually used as exam centres for mainland candidates.
The two mainland schools from which the DSE candidates will be put forward have been checked by the authority to see if they are suitable to be the test centres.
Lighting, ventilation and the provision of adequate storerooms for test papers were among the factors considered.
The authority noted that DSE exams had always been held in Hong Kong but that could change if suitable arrangements could be made.
“We will continue to follow up and negotiate with the relevant departments and institutions in both places on the proposal to open diploma examination centres in mainland cities and maintain communication with the taking part schools,” the spokeswoman said.
The heads of the two mainland schools have been asked for comment.