Successful matric examinations wrap up

Thursday, November 29, 2012

Pretoria - The Minister of Basic Education Angie Motshekga has praised all those involved in ensuring that the 2012 National Senior Certificate (NSC) examinations were successful and without any major hiccups.

Matrics wrote their last exam yesterday.

Motshekga said she was satisfied that the examinations had been conducted with integrity and without serious problems, except for weather related challenges in some parts of the country.

The department commended the swift action of KwaZulu-Natal police, who acted promptly in arresting an education official who had allegedly stolen eight exam papers in Durban. They are currently investigating a case of fraud involving matric examination papers.

"The examinations progressed exceptionally well with no major incidents affecting the integrity or credibility of the examinations, with the unfortunate exception of the KwaZulu-Natal incident," Motshekga said on Thursday.

A total of 647 687 candidates enrolled to write the 2012 NSC examinations, of which 120 352 were part time and 527 335 full time candidates. More than 7.8 million question papers were printed and sent to exam centres while 7.4 million scripts were distributed to marking centers as part of the NSC exams.

Motshekga said the exams were especially significant in that it marked the fifth year in which the NSC examinations were being administered across the country.

"This gives us an opportunity and a reasonable period on which to reflect on the achievements and challenges of the last five years," she said.

Marking had commenced in the Gauteng and Limpopo provinces, with all other provinces scheduled to begin today. About 38 371 markers and 668 internal moderators will be involved in the marking of the scripts at 118 marking venues across the country.

The marking of the exams will be concluded across all provincial education departments by 14 December. All marks will then be captured on the computer system of the national department in preparation for the Umalusi standardisation processes.

Motshekga will announce the matrics results on 2 January 2013 and learners can collect their statements of results from their various schools on 3 January at 8am. - SAnews.gov.za