SA matriculants anxious ahead of results

Almost 200 000 matrics failed last year's examinations

Thousands of matriculants are anxiously waiting for their results, due out on Friday. There are concerns that this year's results could be affected by the teachers' strike earlier this year, as well as the late arrival of stationery to many schools.

South African Democratic Teachers Union (Sadtu) Provincial Secretary in the Eastern Cape, Mxolisi Dimaza, says they are expecting the results to remain the same as the province refused to have a recovery plan after the strike.

Meanwhile the KwaZulu-Natal department of education has joined forces with the health department to help matrics deal with the stress of upcoming results. Education spokesperson, Christi Naude, has called on pupils to join stress centres that will help them deal with the situation.

Analysts have predicted that the matric pass rate will continue its downward spiral this year.
* A reminder that the SABC's mobile news service News Break 082 152 will be publishing detailed matric results via voice and sms on option 6 of the line as soon as the results are out. (Smses cost three rand, and students' exam and ID numbers are needed to access the results; calls are charged at standard value-added service rates.)