Some matric pupils anxiously awaiting the release of their results on Thursday are not confident about their marks, blaming lost teaching time during the three-week strike by teachers.
Wynberg High pupil Ntombesizwe Mkhonto said the stress of the release of the results was too much to handle. “I’m so scared, it’s not funny. I haven’t been sleeping.”
Pupils will be able to collect their results from their schools from noon on Thursday and Mkhonto said she would be there despite her nerves.
During the strike, Mkhonto had criticised teachers who were away from class and not preparing pupils for their preliminary exams.
Olwethu Matyesini, a matric pupil at Chris Hani High, said he did not think he did as well as he would have hoped.
“I’m eager to see the results because I don’t know how well I did. Everything didn’t go as planned, the effect that the strike had,” he said.
Chris Hani was one of the schools hardest hit by the teachers’ strike.
During the three-week public sector strike, pupils at 61 schools were either unable to begin preliminary exams, or had their exams disrupted.
The Western Cape Education Department rescheduled exams at a number of schools and most were completed before the September school holidays.
But pupils at 11 schools, including Chris Hani, had to continue writing exams during their one-week holiday, or when they returned to school for the fourth term.
In the Western Cape, additional details of the provincial matric results, including the names of the top achievers, will be released at a function at the premier’s residence, Leeuwenhof, on January 12. - Cape Times