Pretoria - Preliminary reports have suggested that the first matric exam papers have kicked off without any delays.
The first exam papers, Electronic Technology and German, Portuguese, Hebrew, first and second additional languages, kicked off at 9am.
Later today, at 2pm matrics will sit for Hindi, Gujarati, Urdu, Tamil, Telegu, Arabic, French, Italian, Spanish, first and second additional languages as well as a two and half hour Latin paper.
Spokesperson for Basic Education Minister Angie Motshekga, Hope Mokgatlhe told BuaNews that all provinces had got off to a good start and that all papers had been delivered on time this morning.
The department had to deliver backup papers at the last minute after question papers were leaked in Mpumalanga last week.
"There are no delays whatsoever. All provinces had given a report that they were ready for this morning," said Mokgatlhe.
Many matrics in Pretoria said they were nervous ahead of the Electronic Technology paper.
"I'm a bit nervous but I have been preparing for this paper," Thabang Mogashoa from Kgomotso High School in Soshanguve said.
One of the few girls writing the paper at her school, Thoko Tsiyo, 17, said while she was nervous she had prepared for the exam. "I've been preparing by using old exam papers and studying hard," she said.
She added that she had received a lot of support from her family and teachers.
Regarding her mostly male classmates, Thoko said it did not bother her but rather made her feel empowered.
After completing her matric year, she hopes to study electrical engineering at either the University of Pretoria or the Tshwane University of Technology (TUT) so that she can get a job at power utility Eskom or telecommunication parastatal Telkom.
Another Pretoria learner, Linda Mkhwanazi, said he was relieved that he would finally be writing this exam as he had spent months preparing for it. He will be sitting for his next exam, English, on 2 November.
Linda said he hoped to earn good enough marks to be able to study Electrical Engineering (Heavy Current) at TUT next year.
