Students take high school graduation exam in Phnom Penh, Cambodia on Dec. 27, 2021. A total of 114,183 Cambodian candidates took a national high school graduation exam on Monday after the COVID-19 pandemic has been brought under control.(Photo: Xinhua)

 

Students sit for high school graduation exam in Phnom Penh, Cambodia on Dec. 27, 2021. A total of 114,183 Cambodian candidates took a national high school graduation exam on Monday after the COVID-19 pandemic has been brought under control.(Photo: Xinhua)

 

Students queue for temperature check before sitting for high school graduation exam in Phnom Penh, Cambodia on Dec. 27, 2021. A total of 114,183 Cambodian candidates took a national high school graduation exam on Monday after the COVID-19 pandemic has been brought under control(Photo: Xinhua)

 

Students have their temperature checked before sitting for high school graduation exam in Phnom Penh, Cambodia on Dec. 27, 2021. A total of 114,183 Cambodian candidates took a national high school graduation exam on Monday after the COVID-19 pandemic has been brought under control. (Photo: Xinhua)

 
A total of 114,183 Cambodian candidates are taking a national high school graduation exam on Monday after the situation of COVID-19 pandemic had been brought under control.

The annual exam is a prerequisite for Grade 12 students to pursue their studies at university levels.

Over the course of two days, the candidates will sit for the test in the subjects of earth and environment, geography, history, biology, foreign language, Khmer literature, mathematics, chemistry, physics, and morality-civics, according to an Education Ministry's statement.

Speaking to reporters while visiting an exam center at the Preah Sisowath High School in capital Phnom Penh, Education Minister Hang Chuon Naron said there are 204 exam centers with 4,616 rooms across the southeast Asian nation.

"All educators and exam-takers are required to strictly follow health and safety measures, including wearing face masks, washing hands, having temperature checked, and maintaining physical distancing, in order to prevent the spread of COVID-19," he said.

The minister said two students, who tested positive for COVID-19 after returning to the country from Kazakhstan, where they participated in the 2021 Asian Senior Karate Championships, were also allowed to take their exam at a COVID-19 treatment center in the capital.

Last year, due to the pandemic, the government allowed all Grade 12 students to pass their exit exam automatically without sitting for it.

Naron said the exam was held this year after the kingdom had achieved high COVID-19 vaccination rates as well as a significant drop in new COVID-19 cases in recent months.

Cambodia has so far administered at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccines to 14.24 million people, or 89 percent of its 16-million population, according to the Ministry of Health (MoH).

Of them, 13.62 million, or 85.1 percent, are fully vaccinated with two required shots, and 3.39 million, or 21.2 percent, have taken a booster shot, the MoH added.

Most of the vaccines used in the country's inoculation campaign are China's Sinovac and Sinopharm.