Best of luck Matrics 2017

Monday, October 23, 2017

Basic Education Minister Angie Motshekga has wished all matriculants all the best for their final exams, which get underway today.

“I wish the best of luck to all the candidates sitting for the examinations this year. Keep your head down, study hard, stay focused and I am confident you will make us proud.

“After at least 12 years in the education system, you owe it to yourself to put your all into these examinations so that you are able to take advantage of post schooling opportunities. The world is your oyster. Good luck to all of you,” said Minister Motshekga.

In a statement on Sunday, the Department of Basic Education (DBE) said it is ready to administer the exams. Final preparations are in place for the 2017 National Senior Certificate (NSC) examinations.

A total of 634 527 full-time and 168 109 part-time candidates have been registered. KwaZulu-Natal has once again presented the highest number of full-time candidates with 153 624 candidates.

Gauteng, with 41 952 candidates, has contributed the most part-time candidates in the 2017 NSC examination.

The DBE has made provision for 3 805 full-time and 544 part-time special needs candidates with barriers to learning such as dyslexia, blindness and deafness.

“DBE, together with provincial Education Departments, has been hard at work ensuring an appropriate and enabling environment is set to enable seamless administration of the 2017 NSC examinations,” the department said.

The examination system will, however, be fully tested on Tuesday when more than 630 000 candidates will sit at 9am for English Paper 1 at Home Language and First Additional Language levels.

Interventions

Having experienced challenges in the better part of the year, an intervention plan was put in place to support the 1 657 matric learners in secondary schools in Vuwani, Limpopo. 

The department concluded intensive final state of readiness visits to the nine provinces that concluded on 6 October.

The visits also included scheduled engagements with school principals led by Director-General Mathanzima Mweli.

The department said it has done work to mitigate risks associated with the storage and movement of examination scripts.

“Security and the protection of the integrity of the NSC examinations has remained a priority. The department has therefore continued to put significant focus on ensuring that it mitigates risks associated with the storage and movement of examination scripts employing the ‘Just in Time’ printing approach. The approach allows for examination scripts to be printed as close as logistically possible to the writing of the examination.”

In KwaZulu-Natal, the recent bad weather has not put a damper on the province’s examination preparations and all centres across the province have been audited by provincial Education Department officials.

Enrolment subjects

Mathematics Literacy with 356 016, Life Sciences with 356 149, Mathematics with 279 144 and Physical Sciences with 199 874 candidates present some of the highest enrolment subjects for 2017.

The department encouraged learners to continue to be diligent in their studies and take advantage of the various catch-up and revision lessons available across various platforms.

Candidates are encouraged to visit the department’s website, www.education.gov.za, the department’s Facebook page, DBE SA, or follow the Twitter handle, @DBE_SA for links, podcasts and revision lesson times. 

Examination results

Minister Motshekga will release the examination results on the evening of 4 January 2018.

Candidates will be able to access their results from Friday 5 January 2018 through the DBE website and through the various media outlets through which the results will be made available. – SAnews.gov.za