Cape Town - Education MEC David Maynier has commended matric learners for successfully completing their National Senior Certificate (NSC) exams as the exam period comes to a close in the Western Cape.
The MEC said that while the exam sessions have ended, rewrites will take place over the next two days, with seven candidates retaking the Computer Applications Technology (CAT) practical today, and one candidate writing English First Additional Language Paper 1 on Thursday.
He added that the greatest challenges faced during the session were load shedding and the Santaco taxi strike.
“While our practical exams on October 25 and 26 had a delayed start at some exam centres, candidates were still able to complete the exams successfully.
“Load shedding did not have a major impact on the written exams, as all venues are required to have sufficient natural light.
“The Santaco taxi strike on November 21 and 22 affected 354 Life Sciences candidates and 415 Geography candidates.
“Due to excellent preparation by our schools, these candidates were either accommodated at an alternate exam centre or arrived slightly late but still had their full time allocation to write.
“Neither of these challenges caused a candidate to miss an exam. This is quite an achievement, given that we had nearly 74 000 candidates writing 124 papers over seven weeks,” he said.
Maynier added that despite issuing a warning against cheating last month, there was still a total of 15 reports of candidates allegedly bringing cellphones into the exam room, and 14 reports of candidates allegedly bringing in unauthorised material or “crib notes”.
“We also had one report of alleged copying involving two candidates.
“Hearings are being conducted with these candidates, and they will have a fair chance to respond to the allegations.
“We hope that this will be a warning to next year’s candidates: our invigilators have sharp eyes, and they will not let any infringement of the rules slip,” he said.
The MEC said they owe a debt of gratitude to the officials and school staff who ensured that the exam sessions ran like clockwork.
“They made sure that nothing stood between our matrics and their dreams. And while many of us are relaxing during the festive season, our staff will continue working tirelessly to mark and process the results,” he said.
Marking will begin today and concludes on December 22, with over 3 300 markers working at 11 marking centres for the next few weeks.
On the first two days of marking, intensive training is done to make sure that all markers are up to the same standard.
“It is an enormous task: in total, they will mark 870 000 scripts. We thank them for their diligence and commitment to ensuring that this exam session is fair and credible.
“We now look forward as a province to the national results announcement on January 19, 2023, and the release of results to schools and candidates the following day,” he said.
“To our matrics: Well done on getting through your exams. You’ve had a tough few years, and we are so proud of you for completing your exams.
“Now you can relax and let your hair down, but please do so safely and responsibly. We want every one of you to be able to celebrate when the results are released next year,” Maynier said.