Basic Education Minister Angie Motshekga has sent her best wishes to all matric learners, who are currently sitting for their final National Senior Certificate (NSC) Examination.
Some matrics commenced their final NSC practical exams on 16 October 2019, with Computer Applications Tech Paper 1.
A total of 790 405 candidates are expected to sit for the national exams across 7 416 examination centres nationwide. Main subject papers will be written from 23 October 2019 and will finish on 28 November 2019.
A further 212 learners entered will write from correctional facilities. A total of 147 examination question papers for the 2019 NSC examinations have been set and externally moderated by Umalusi, the Council for Quality Assurance in General and Further Education and Training.
Motshekga paid tribute to the thousands of teachers who are part of the exams.
“Over the years, all our teachers and officials have always covered themselves in glory. We have performed a dry run of all key elements of the examinations system. Our Examinations Computer system is live, tested and all system administrators have been trained and deployed,” Motshekga said.
All data sets have received the nod from Umalusi.
“All necessary policy changes [have been] completed. The security cluster is providing all the necessary support and ready for any eventuality.
“The only threat that remains with us is the insidious phenomenon of service delivery protests that often turn violent and prevent learners from accessing examinations venues. In this regard, contingency plans are in place.
“We also faced teething problems when the examinations started last week. Learners who were affected by power outages will sit for the exam using our back up question papers.
“Rest assured that the DBE always allows for such incidents, most of which are beyond our control. We are in constant communication with the management of Eskom and they have thus far confirmed that power disruptions will not happen or will be at a bare minimum to ensure that our examination runs smoothly,” Motshekga said.
Provinces have ensured that all the schools for deaf learners have procured and received all the necessary equipment for the South African Sign Language (SASL) Home Language. There are a total of 15 registered schools for deaf learners offering Grade 12 in 2019. – SAnews.gov.za
