By Staff Reporter
POLOKWANE-For public schools, there’s just over three weeks left until the 2023 final National Senior Certificate exams and for private schools, less than two weeks. Is the department and schools ready?
For public schools, the final matric examination period is set to commence on Monday, 30 October 2023 and will conclude during the first week of December 2023. As for independent schools, the IEB final matric exams will kick off sooner on 17 October 2023 and will end on 28 November 2023.
This means that for public schools, there’s just over three weeks left and for private schools, less than two weeks. Is everything ready?
Well, Minister of the Department of Basic Education, Angie Motshekga has said that she is confident that her department is ready.
723 971 full-time candidates will sit down to participate in this year’s final National Senior Certificate (NSC) examinations, around 30 000 less than last year. As for part-time candidates, 129 064 individuals will be writing, bringing the total candidates for this year’s final matric exams to 853 035.
This year’s exams will take place across 6 337 public schools and 552 independent exam centres in the country, including Adult Education and Training centres and special centres.
This year’s matric class are the grade 10s of the Covid-19 pandemic which means they were the hardest hit matrics.
Deputy Chairperson of the Education for Social Justice Foundation, Hendrick Makaneta, says:
We have seen in many provinces such as Gauteng and Free State, there was a lot of intensive work during which the matriculants were taken through extra classes on Saturdays and sometimes on Sundays and of course there is no doubt that Covid-19 resulted in a delay in completing some of the topics in grade 10.
Challenges do however remain in township schools where learners had no access to resources during the pandemic which led to them being behind.
As for matric exam irregularities such as cheating, the department is said to have put measures in place to ensure that this doesn’t disrupt this year’s matric exams. One measure is that matric will be scanned for any gadgets before entering the exam centre.
