What Happens if your Child Falls Sick During PSLE?

What is one of the worst nightmares that any parent can have during the PSLE period?

No, it's not having not enough time to finish revision. Neither is it your kid continually making careless mistakes in the mock papers.

It is FALLING SICK during this crucial exam period... or more specifically, taking ill just one day prior to a PSLE paper.

And that was just what happened to Ash over the weekend.

Ash woke up with a slightly sore throat and drippy nose on Saturday morning and by the next day, a low-grade fever had decided to gatecrash the party as well.

Sigh.

Immediately, many thoughts ran through my mind. Will he still be able to sit for the exam on Monday? What if he is unwell but still wishes to sit for the paper? Or what will happen if he misses the exam altogether?

Fortunately, there are a few options available:

1. Able to sit for exams

This is of course, the most ideal scenario. If the child recovers in time and feels relatively well, then it will be business as usual during exam day.

2. Unwell but still wishes to take the exam

You should inform your child's school or teacher immediately, who should be able to advise you on the next course of action.

As a rule of thumb, you should obtain 2 things from the doctor: a Medical Certificate (MC) and an accompanying note stating the diagnosis as well as certifying the child medically fit to sit for the examination. The final portion is extremely important because without the certification, the school will not take the risk of something happening to the child in the midst of the exam.

If possible, contact your child's teacher the day prior to the exam so that the Chief Presiding Examiner at the school will be informed and necessary arrangements can be made.

During the morning of exam day, pass the MC and note to the teacher who will then bring the child to the isolation room where he will sit for the exam. Do note that once the MC has been declared, the child will not be able to take the exam together with other students as the school cannot risk other students falling sick as well.

If the child is hospitalised, the school will make arrangements for him/her to sit the examination in the hospital. For students who suffering from infectious disease (e.g. chicken pox or hand, foot and mouth disease), arrangements will be made for the child to sit the examinations at a designated examination centre.

Should the need arises, you may appeal for a review of results through the school immediately after obtaining the national examination results.  The appeal must be submitted to Singapore Examinations and Assessment Board (SEAB) through the school by the closing date. There will be an appeal fee for each subject.

3. Unable to sit for the exam

This is the trickiest part of the lot. For students who are not feeling well and not able to sit the examination, the first thing you have to do is to inform the school. Whatever course of action that comes next will come at the discretion of SEAB.




So which option did we pick? Option 2, since Ash felt well enough to go for the exam the next day.

At the end of the day, prevention is still better than cure. So keep the kids both physically and mentally healthy during this trying period. And fingers crossed!




NOTE: All of the information above have been obtained from SEAB's website and the online PSLE Instruction Booklet 2017.

If you require more information on other aspects of PSLE, you can visit HERE.