The Basic Education Department says that it’s ready for the start of this year’s matric final examinations. This is despite concerns expressed by the teacher union Sadtu, over rolling blackouts being a hindrance to learners’ ability to prepare adequately for the exams.
The department’s spokesperson Elijah Mhlanga, says that a small number of candidates have already started with exams, writing practical subjects.
“Well we’re ready, tomorrow (Tuesday) we’ll be briefing the portfolio committee to confirm our state of readiness, so, we’re good to go. There’s a small number that is writing computer technology as well as information technology, which are practical subjects, which are not written by everyone. But, the main exam with us we’re starting on Monday.”
Over 920 000 candidates are enrolled for the National Senior Certificate this year.
Neo Goliath ka Ndlovu is a grade 12 learner who says after grappling with the COVID-19 pandemic, preparing for the final examination has not been easy.
“These past couple of months have been a little bit hard. But with hard work and disciple, I give it my best. So they helped me proceed and achieve progress. The syllabus was not that hard but I can say the workload was. The extra lessons and heavy notes were given. We didn’t go to school every day so there wasn’t enough time to prepare for grade 12. I was in grade 10 during covid so it wasn’t sufficient enough.”
Mhlanga says the class of 2022 is a disadvantaged group as they have not gone through normal schooling for two full years.
“This group of 2022 is the worst affected because in grade 10 when covid hit, they are the ones that came back very late back to school, they did not finish their curriculum and yet they went to grade 11. In 2021 grade 11, also had to battle through the start and stops of covid and again from a curriculum aspect, they suffered. and that has created a situation of anxiety.”
‘Excited and anxious’
The matric class of 2022 says they are excited and anxious at the same time.
Some Free State matriculants say their dedication and commitment throughout the year will finally pay off. More than 35 000 candidates will sit for their final examinations starting with Computer Application Technology.
“Our teachers have done a lot of work to prepare us therefore we are ready,” says one learner. Another one adds, “The camps and extra classes helped us a lot to prepare so we are good to go.” “We have been getting ready for this moment for 12 years of school, it’s our time now to shine.”
The Congress of South African Students (COSAS) says the department of education has not done enough to prepare matriculants for the final exams.
The organiser of COSAS in Gauteng, Nkateko Sithole says following the COVID setback, the biggest challenge learners are faced with, is the ongoing blackouts.
“Alone this year we have been hit very hard by the situation of load shedding and the department of education has not even come up with a recovery plan of how to counteract this load-shedding yet we are expected to go write our final exams. There’s a school in Mamelodi called Modiri, which is a technical school that is very much dependent on electricity and it has not had electricity for the whole year. There are issues of infrastructure, you find that we sit two twos and some leaners share chairs. We are not ready.”
Rolling blackouts
Meanwhile, teachers’ union SADTU has called on Eskom and Basic Education to ensure that matric centres are exempted from rolling blackouts.
The matric class of 2022 is preparing for final exams which are set to start on Monday the 31st of this month. SADTU’s Xolani Fakude has raised concerns about the unreliable power supply in the country.
“We are concerned as a union in terms of how this can affect the operational factors in the context of when our learners will be sitting down to write exams. Certainly, there could be a way in which Eskom to ensure that our schools and other public service centres are exempted from a brutal schedule of load shedding.”
Logistically, DBE’s Mhlanga says they are ready to proceed with the examinations. However, he concedes that the rolling blackouts pose a serious challenge.
“We are just worried about the load shedding matter because it affects their preparation for the exams because sometimes in the evenings they are not able to study because the power is just not available as a result of load shedding. So learners and parents should work around the schedule to support the class of 2022. So let’s make sure that during the day, we study and when the power is gone, we use that time to rest. When it comes back on, we study again. Unfortunately, that is the type of environment we need to survive in because that is what we are faced with as a country.”
