The education authorities are still evaluating whether the O and A level exams will be held in April as the country continues to grapple with the corona-virus outbreak.

Times of Malta is informed that representatives from the University of Malta, the MATSEC board, MCAST and the department of education will be putting forward their position on the matter to the government next week.

Education sources said as the situation with COVID-19 was changing daily, authorities were expected to announce their final decision in the first week of April.

This would also mean that students would still have ample time to study if the exams are held.

Schools are due to re-open after the Easter holidays on April 20, which is three days before the exams start. But authorities think it is unlikely that the situation will have returned to normal by then.

Contacted about the issue, Education Minister Owen Bonnici said he would await direction from the school and exam representatives as well as the task force before taking any decision. He said that any decision taken must be in line with the advice of the health authorities.

“If the Superintendent of Public Health Charmaine Gauci tells us not to go ahead with the examinations, then we will not. Public health comes first,” Bonnici said.

If exams are cancelled, they could be postponed until September, he suggested. Various options are being considered in the event of the April exams being cancelled, Bonnici said. One suggestion is that they would be held in September. Another is that they could be moved to the summer, with resits in the late autumn.

Schools, universities and day-care centres were shut for a week on March 12, however, the closure was extended indefinitely on Tuesday evening.