A nine-year-old boy has been made to take his exam outside in the freezing cold because the school director would not accept his face mask exemption.

The incident took place at a school in the small city of Voitsberg in the Austrian state of Styria on 11th January.

Markus Fischer, the father of the young student named Jason, told local media: “My son Jason has health issues from wearing a mask. That’s why we went to a doctor, who issued a mask exemption certificate.”

“My son really wanted to take the test, he had been preparing for it for three weeks.”

When the boy’s father sent the certificate to the school after the holidays, it was rejected by the director.

Markus said: “My son cried bitterly because he wasn’t allowed to go to school.”

He added that Jason really wanted to sit the general studies exam and took his son to school on 11th January.

The boy was given the test and told to sit outside on a chair placed in front of a window. The exam lasted 15 to 20 minutes.

Markus, who said he is consulting with a lawyer over the matter, pointed out that the incident was “not the teachers’ fault”.

The education board said in a statement: “The authenticity of the photo is not questioned by any of the people involved.

The board also confirmed that the student completed the “voluntary written performance assessment” outside.

“This solution was agreed between the class teacher and the legal guardians, as the mask exemption certificate presented for the child at short notice on Sunday evening was still being examined…

“Such an approach does not meet the approval of the education board and is considered an isolated incident. The authority endeavours to collect the details completely and factually.”