CAPE TOWN - It’s all systems go for the May/June exams which start today with a total of 290 682 registered candidates.
Of these 165 993 will sit for the National Senior Certificate (NSC) and 124 689 for the Senior Certificate (SC) at 5 236 examination centres across the country.
Department of Basic Education (DBE) spokesperson Elijah Mhlanga said the NSC candidates wrote their exam in 2021 and previous years but did not attain the full requirements of the qualification.
“The Senior Certificate candidates are adult candidates that are over 21 years and have completed a minimum of Grade 7 or ABET Level IV. The Department has learnt valuable lessons from the previous examinations and is therefore confident in administering this examination, successfully. Candidates are requested to report any irregular practices that they may observe to the school principal,” said Mhlanga.
Western Cape Education MEC Debbie Schäfer said they were expecting 36 379 candidates during these exams.
“Of these, 13 853 are adults and out-of-school young people writing the Senior Certificate, while 22 526 are writing the NSC in a part time capacity to either improve their marks or complete their qualification. About 900 invigilators will ensure that exams proceed smoothly and fairly at 174 exam centres across the province.”
The first subjects to be written on Monday will be a selection of languages with lower enrolment in the morning, followed by English Home Language, First Additional Language, and Second Additional Language (all Paper 1) in the afternoon.
The final paper, Business Studies Paper 2 is expected to be on June 23.
Schäfer said she had hoped that by now Eskom would have resolved its issues.
“Load shedding once again represents a burden that our candidates must carry through no fault of their own.
“Our exam venues are thus required to have sufficient natural light in the event that the power goes out during an exam, and venues for the Computer Applications Technology and Information Technology practicals have generators and protocols to be followed in the event of a power failure,” said Schäfer.
She also appealed to public members including various organisations and political groups not to disrupt the candidates by any means.
Cape Times