Coronavirus: stress over university entrance exams has skyrocketed amid Hong Kong school closures, study finds
- ‘Without proper support from school or teachers’, students apt to feel more ‘helpless’, counselling group behind survey says
- Over 20 per cent of those polled in March said their stress levels were at a maximum 10 out of 10
The stress levels of Hong Kong students sitting for the upcoming university entrance examination are at an all-time high amid the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic, which has forced schools to close, according to a study released on Sunday.
The study, comprising two polls conducted by the student counselling group Hok Yau Club in January and March, also indicates the coronavirus’ impact on candidates’ study has been far greater than that of the social unrest that has plagued the city since last June.
The March poll, which interviewed 757 students before the first postponement of the Diploma of Secondary Education (DSE) exam – now set for April 24 – found respondents on average rated their stress level over the exam an 8.1 out of 10.
That was up from the 7.48 average for the 1,308 candidates polled in January.
The stress levels are the highest since the annual study was launched in 2012, when the DSE exam was first introduced. Last year, the level was 6.76, almost unmoved from 2018’s 6.75. Candidates indicated a stress level of 7.42 in 2013.
Ng Po-shing, the club’s student guidance consultant, said of the epidemic’s impact: “Many candidates have been forced to study at home for months, as schools are closed. Without proper support from school or teachers, they feel more helpless, and the uncertainties brought about by the outbreak has also made the students more stressful.”