Matriculation examinees in capital may attend classes

The cities of Helsinki, Espoo, and Vantaa decided to give upper secondary school students preparing for matriculation exams the option of attending preparatory classes in person, said the City of Helsinki in a press release on Friday.

The Metropolitan Area coronavirus coordination group on Thursday made the recommendations as students at the upper secondary level in the metropolitan area have been distance-learning for a long time.

The coordination group, however, decided to maintain current restrictions on children’s recreational activities.

The recommendations and restrictions pertaining to education in the metropolitan area will continue as they are now, with one exception. The students will be given the option to attend preparatory classes in person between 18 January and the end of the third evaluation period.

One reason for this is the practice on the Abitti system used in the matriculation exams can only take place at the educational institutions. Due to recent legislation that increased the significance of matriculation exam results in university selection, these kinds of considerations for graduating students in terms of nationwide equity are particularly important.

The period will contain an evaluation week sometime between 28 January and 5 February 2021, with exact dates and duration depending on the city or the school concerned. Upper secondary school students preparing for matriculation exams will be given the possibility to opt for contact-teaching during this evaluation week as well.

Students preparing for their matriculation exams will not be required to attend classes in person, if they do not wish to do so. Instruction will be arranged in a hybrid fashion, with some students attending classes in person and others participating via distance-learning online.

A voluntary two-week quarantine is recommended for students planning to sit matriculation exams.

Students with incomplete or missing coursework or an essential contact-teaching need will switch to distance-learning on 1 March at the latest, which will leave them with enough time to serve the required self-imposed quarantine before the exams’ starting date of 16 March 2021.

The students and teachers, however, need to follow the necessary safety instructions.