It is all systems go for matric learners to start their exams at the end of this month with a record 735 000 full-time students expected to sit for the National Senior Certificate exams.
The department of basic education also revealed on Friday that the results would be announced on January 20 next year, after all processes related to the matric exams including the marking of the papers and the quality assurance had been dispensed with.
Basic Education Minister Angie Motshekga told a news conference that this was another testing period for the matriculants as they still had to deal with the Covid-19 pandemic, like the class of 2020.
The exams will start on October 27 and be concluded on December 7.
They were brought forward after the Constitutional Court dismissed the Electoral Commission of South Africa’s (IEC) application to postpone local government elections to next February.
This forced the IEC to move the election date to November 1 in line with the ConCourt judgment.
The department of basic education (DBE) had initially set November 1 as the start of the matric exams, but this would have clashed with the elections, so it moved to October 27.
Motshekga said the department was ready for the class of 2021 to sit for the exams.
“This is the third matric exam to happen under the Covid-19 environment; and the DBE had to make changes, to mitigate the negative impact of Covid-19 pandemic on teaching and learning,” the minister said.
“This year, there are seven hundred and thirty-five thousand, 735 677 full-time candidates. This is an increase by 128 451. That means that the system needs to ensure that all health and safety protocols are adhered to. We have consulted with provinces to check on their state of readiness; and provinces have confirmed that it is all system go.”
Political Bureau