The Mpumalanga Department of Education says it’s all systems go for the over 93 000 matric learners registered to complete the 2020 academic.
Grade 12 learners will sit for their National Certificate examination on Thursday.
Grade 12 learners countrywide are preparing for their final examination. But some in the province are not sure if they will sit for the exams. About 56 000 full-time candidates will be writing the Grade 12 final examination this week. More than 6 000 candidates are part-time learners. While some of the learners are confident that they will do well, others are worried.
Treasure Sambo from Cyril Clarke High School in Mbombela says it was not easy to prepare for the exams following the disruption and danger posed by the COVID-19 pandemic.
“I could say we are partially ready for the exams because of the new normal. It was a bit hard because we had to cut off some of the things that we used to do like the camp. We had to replace it with the week studies. We only came on Saturdays to do the hardest subjects like Maths and Physics. It has been a hard year, but we hope we will make it through.”
However, Surprise Khumalo says attending extra-classes has helped them to prepare for the exams.
‘So far, we have put a lot of effort into our studies and we have been attending extra lessons. So we usually start school at 07:30 until 16:30. We have put in a lot of hard work and our teachers have been with us until now.”
Education MEC Bonakele Majuba is optimistic that the learners will deliver. Despite all the challenges, Majuba says the set target of an 80% pass rate will be achieved.
“We think that we have done all that is humanly possible. In the previous year, we got 80.3%. We hope that is year on the basis of what we have done we can get 83%.”
The Department of Education has urged all candidates to adhere to COVID-19 regulations.
Meanwhile, some learners at Edgeview Development Skills Academy are in the dark. It has now been established that the academy is not registered with the Department of Education.
Last week, the Department of Education said the affected learners should get assistance from their previous schools. But some of the learners claim that there is no assistance. Amongst them are learners from provinces such as Limpopo and the Eastern Cape.
Learners at bogus school worried about their future:
