Rustenburg - More than 200 matric pupils are writing final exams at safe camps in the North West following threats of a school shutdown due to service delivery protests, the provincial education department said on Friday.
Department spokesman Elias Malindi said 115 pupils were accommodated at Kgononyane Secondary School in Southey village near Ganyesa. The pupils were from 17 schools in the neighbouring villages that had threatened to shut down schools in protest at a lack of service delivery.
The pupils arrived at the school on October 24, accompanied by the school governing bodies (SGB), who ensured that learners were safely housed with 24 hour security.
Education MEC Wendy Matsemela visited the school on Thursday to monitor examination at various centres. Matsemela was happy with the conditions of the learners at the school and also commended the SGBs for their proactive role in giving learners a chance to write their National Senior Certificate (NSC) examinations.
“It is important for the department to provide a conducive space for these learners because if these learners were not given an opportunity to write, they would be frustrated and discouraged,” she said.
Forty three pupils at Bogosing Secondary School in Maphoitsile were accommodated at PH Moeketsi Secondary School in Taung, after threats by community members to disrupt schooling and examinations due to service delivery demands, when the matric exams started on Monday.
Another 55 pupils from Kopela near Delarayville were taken to Vryburg after schools were burnt down during a service delivery protest on September 30. A total of 33,844 learners from 383 schools across the North West province are writing matric examinations.
ANA