Around 300 students in classes X and XII from Bajo Higher Secondary School in Wangdue Phodrang are being relocated to Gaselo Higher Secondary School for the upcoming board examinations. The dzongkhag education sector started escorting the students to the school yesterday as per the education ministry’s directives.
Students from Bajo Higher Secondary School are being escorted to Gaselo Higher Secondary School after testing negative on the RT-PCR test. They will be in the school until the completion of board examinations on March 12.
Similarly, students of classes X and XII of Gaselo Higher Secondary School also gathered in the school after testing negative on RT-PCR last Friday.
According to the district education sector, the students of the two high schools will not mix and will be managed by respective invigilators and staff.
12 students from Gaselo Higher Secondary School and three students from Bajo Higher Secondary School tested positive for COVID-19 during the mass testing for the students conducted last week. 20 of their primary contacts have been traced.
Four primary contacts are from Gaselo Higher Secondary School, 14 from Bajo Higher Secondary School and one each from Phobjikha Middle Secondary School and Lungtenzampa Middle Secondary School in Thimphu.
The COVID positive students are currently in isolation centres while the primary contacts are in facility quarantine. An official said plans are being worked out to identify a place to house the positive students to allow them to sit for the exams. Separate invigilators and staff will monitor the conduct of examinations for these students.
Both Bajo Higher Secondary School and Gaselo Higher Secondary School are located in the red zone. But Gaselo Higher Secondary School has an adequate hostel facility to accommodate a large number of students, according to the district education sector.
Students from four schools including a middle secondary school will sit for the board examinations in Wangdue Phodrang. Phobjikha Middle Secondary School and Samtengang Higher Secondary School are already functioning in self-containment mode. Board Examinations begin from the 28th of this month across the country.
Changa Dorji, Wangdue Phodrang
Edited by Phub Gyem
