All systems go for matric finals

OVER 890 000 candidates are expected to sit for the 2021 matric final examinations in exactly a week.

During a recent media briefing on their state of readiness, Angie Motshekga, the Minister of Basic Education, confirmed that the exams would begin on October 27.

Motshekga said there were 735 677 fulltime candidates writing this year, an increase of 128 451 from the previous year.

A total of 162 109 part-time candidates will also sit for the exam this year.

She spoke about the ramifications of the covid-19 pandemic on pupils. “You will recall that the class of 2021 had to navigate a complex and hazardous terrain to arrive at this final examination. This is the Grade 11 class of 2020 that did not complete their curriculum.

“But through the sheer hard work and dedication of our teachers, they have been able to cover the entire curriculum of 2021 and even had enough time to do revision. The remote learning interventions of the department and its partners, together with the camps, have assisted in terms of curriculum coverage,” she said.

Motshekga said the upcoming examination would be the third examination to be written during the pandemic and that the department of education had to make changes to mitigate its negative effect on teaching and learning.

“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 the provinces have confirmed that it is all system go,” she said.

Motshekga said the Woza Matrics Campaign was available to assist. The supplementary remote learning support programme is a free-toair television initiative that offers tuition support to Grade 12 pupils in 10 subjects. It aims to help pupils to catch up on curriculum learning, Grade 11 and matric revision and exam preparation.

“We urge all our learners to take advantage of the learning and teaching support materials as well as the support available through the campaign. We also have hundreds of zero-rated platforms on our website.”

Cynthia Barnes, the secretary-general of the National Teachers’ Union(Natu), said they were confident that pupils were well-equipped and ready for the final examinations.

“We have seen that the pupils are ready because teachers have been working tirelessly from early hours in the morning until late in the evening, including on weekends, to ensure they receive the maximum amount of learning time.

“We expect good results from the class of 2021. Despite the Covid-19 pandemic, teachers have covered everything in the syllabus,” she said.

Thirona Moodley, the chief executive of the National Professional Teachers’ Organisation of South Africa (Naptosa) in KZN, said: “Based on the hard work put in by all teachers, not just those teaching Grade 12, we believe that pupils have been adequately prepared for the NSC examinations.”

She said curriculum coverage was now complete and pupils would have been engaging in revision activities.

“Naptosa members have reported to us on an ongoing basis of the many weekend and holiday classes that have been conducted throughout the year in order to adequately prepare pupils.

“External moderation of School-Based Assessments (SBA) has been under way since last week. However, there have been concerns of moderation forms not being sent timeously to schools. This creates logistical issues in the timeous submission of marks that must be captured by the department. We are currently investigating the reasons for this delay,” she said.

Moodley said the union was concerned about the repercussions of the revised promotion requirements for the Grade 11 pupils of the 2020 academic year.

“Due to the pandemic, the Department of Education had revised the promotion requirements from the current 25% weighting for SBA and 75% for examinations, to 60% SBA and 40% for examinations. This effectively passed a large number of the 2020 Grade 11s into the Grade 12 class of 2021.

“Many of these pupils may not have been adequately prepared to face the challenges of the NSC examinations. We will be closely monitoring the results.

“Naptosa does expect challenges. However, we are confident that they will not be insurmountable. We are confident the department is ready to run the examinations, and Naptosa will have observers at examination centres monitoring,” she said.

Vee Gani, the chairperson of the Parents Association of KZN, said: “The general feeling is that this year has been very challenging in terms of Covid-19. Our current matric pupils have been impacted from last year in Grade 11. Therefore, parents believe that they are most disadvantaged in terms of education. This year, there were some interventions put in place. Whether this is adequate or not remains debatable.

“However, we must commend our teachers who have gone above and beyond to accommodate our pupils. Many spent weekends and extra classes to get the pupils ready,” he said.

The final examination will culminate on December 7. The minister will announce the results on January 20, and the provinces will release the class of 2021 matric results the following day.