The National Professional Teacher’s Organisation (Naptosa) has welcomed a decision by the Department of Basic Education to cancel mid-year exams for Grade 12 learners.
Basic Education Minister, Angie Motshekga, says the current matric class has been hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic, resulting in learners having been unable to complete the 2020 syllabus.
NAPTOSA’s Executive Director, Basil Manuel, says it has not been an easy year for learners.
“The Grade 11s had the rotational learning and matric bases a lot of its work on the grade 11 work, and if you haven’t done that, then you have a deficit. So, teachers have to pick up some grade 11 work and they are not at midyear yet,” says Manuel.
“At the moment, we are estimating that they have done about three months of the year’s work and not the six months, which they ought to have done. We are saying it is more important to push to cover more of the curriculum so that every child gets into the final exam on an even footing where they have completed the year’s work,” added Manuel.
