236 pupils couldn't make it for their first PSLE paper

Financial manager Sally Ang's daughter had a stomach ache the night before her first PSLE paper yesterday, but the doctor found signs of a respiratory infection and had her tested for Covid-19.

As it turned out, the antigen rapid test (ART) she took that night was negative.

However, Ministry of Education (MOE) rules require pupils to also get a negative result on a polymerase chain reaction test (PCR) to take the exams.

For Mrs Ang's daughter, the PCR test result did not come in time.

That meant the girl could not sit the PSLE English paper.

Mrs Ang's daughter was among the 236 pupils who did not show up for the exam for a host of reasons.

MOE, in response to queries, said about 1.4 per cent or 560 out of 39,300 pupils from 90 primary schools took leave from quarantine orders to sit the first PSLE paper yesterday.

It added that about 99.4 per cent of all eligible students sat the PSLE English Language written paper.

Yesterday, Mrs Ang, 41, got the result of the PCR test, which was negative, and her daughter will be able to sit the Maths paper today.

Mrs Ang said: "It's a whole year of effort down the drain for her. I understand the need for Covid-19 protocols, but this is very frustrating."

She added that for the past few weeks, the whole family scaled back social interactions to lessen her daughter's chances of contracting Covid-19 before the exams.

Her daughter is also not recorded as a close contact of a Covid-19 patient, she said.

However, now they have to put the whole thing behind them, said Mrs Ang, and hope the stressful episode will not have an impact on how the girl does for the other papers.

She said: "My daughter had a tough time with home-based learning and she didn't do that well for her prelims in August, so we were really hoping that she could use the PSLE to pull up her grades.

"But I don't understand why the rules have to be so stringent. Her ART was negative, so surely she could have done the exam in a separate room or something like that."

MOE, in a statement on Sunday, said pupils who miss national exams for valid reasons will get projected grades based on past exam results and other factors like the school cohort's performance.

The annual Primary School Leaving Examination kicked off yesterday with the English Language written papers. It will end next Wednesday. Today, pupils will sit the Mathematics paper.

On Sunday, MOE said pupils who have received Covid-19 quarantine orders (QOs) and those on a leave of absence will be allowed to sit the exams if they get a negative PCR test result at the start of the QO and get a negative ART result within 24 hours before each exam.

Some parents had earlier said they found the new rules confusing. Madam Elisabeth Fong, 46, whose son finished his quarantine order on Wednesday and took his English exam yesterday, said everything ran smoothly

"He said the paper was easier than his prelims," the secretary added. She was anxious when it was unclear if her son could take the paper, she said, but now took a different view.

Madam Fong said: "I'm thankful that MOE saw the seriousness of having many students under QO, and altered the rules allowing affected students to take PSLE as long as they test negative for Covid-19".

Parents of children who have not been affected by the latest Covid-19 rules said the PSLE marks the end of a stressful year made more difficult by Covid-19 curbs.

IT professional Audrey Morais, 40, said her focus now is to help her son better manage his stress and emotions.

She said: "There have been so many disruptions due to Covid-19 and he's missed out on many things, academically and socially.

"I'm just really appreciative of his teachers who have put in a lot of extra effort to help."