Baccalaureate exams continue on in Madagascar as the country reported nearly 17,000 cases of Covid-19 (include 238 deaths) and after an exam subject scandal between teachers and candidates.
In Madagascar, there are a little more than 164,000 candidates working on the mathematics test of the baccalaureate this Tuesday morning. The first tests started yesterday Monday on the Big Island by trying to respect the barrier gestures. The country has recorded nearly 17,000 cases of Covid-19, including 238 deaths. The number of newly infected is decreasing. The state of health emergency was also lifted by the President of the Republic on Sunday. But Monday, during the first tests, the Covid-19 epidemic was in the minds of many students.
At the Lycée Jean-Joseph Rabearivelo, one of the capital's examination centers, hand-washing cans have been installed in the middle of the courtyard. There is hydro-alcoholic gel in the room, the wearing of a mask is compulsory and the students are one per table instead of two.
Measures that have destabilized Sitrakiniaivo, candidate for literary series. He was present from 5 am. “ It was difficult to concentrate with the mask because it hurt my ears and it choked me too and when you take it off a little, the supervisor tells you to put it back on right away ”, confides t -he.
For Rovasoa and Jean-Michel, it is the school year disrupted by the confinement that worries them. The final year students saw their lessons suspended for several weeks before a partial recovery in the morning. “ We haven't been able to train a lot. We didn't even do a mock exam. And there, it is directly the bac ”, regrets one. “ The measures put in place did not bother me. It even helped me concentrate because we were alone at the table, but I found the philosophy test very complicated. I was stressed because the confinement lasted a long time. We were not able to continue the lessons and we were satisfied with what we had to revise, ”adds the other.
Nirina, 20, is studying while waiting for the English test. “ During the entire confinement I studied alone at home. We were very upset because we didn't know when the exam was going to take place. I was afraid that we would know the date at the last moment or that it would be canceled altogether. There I try to concentrate and not to think about the virus ”.
In recent days, subjects presented as baccalaureate exams and available for consultation in exchange for a sum of money have circulated on social networks. Teachers and candidates involved were arrested, said the gendarmerie. These were bogus subjects, she says.
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