DURBAN - Education MEC Kwazi Mshengu has warned matric pupils about the consequences of cheating.
The MEC and his officials were out on Wednesday morning visiting schools monitoring the beginning of the examination.
He visited Nhlakanipho High School in KwaMashu, north of Durban, where he warned pupils about cheating, saying one pupil who is found cheating will compromise the entire school because all the results will be held pending the finalisation of the investigation.
“People, this is your final journey of 12 years, so you will not want to compromise the fruitful years of your future with hours. As you are sitting for the examination today, you must remember that it is the culmination of your 12 year-journey you undertook from grade 1, so it is important that you make sure that results are credible and are with integrity,” said the MEC.
He also announced because of Covid-19 and other challenges that disrupted learning and teaching this year pupils would be assisted by the teachers in studying.
He encouraged pupils to continue going to school until their final paper, even when they were not writing.
The MEC said he had spoken to teachers, and they agreed that they would assist pupils in their studying for the next paper, giving them guidance and the scope of the paper to understand what type of questions to expect.
He also urged parents to give pupils a break from chores and other domestic responsibilities. He said pupils who will fail must not commit suicide, adding that the department will create another chance which will be announced early next year.
“I know starting examinations comes with a lot of anxiety, so this should not be a problem, it is common and understandable, but you have no reason to panic. Relax and write, but if you happen not to pass, do not worry because there is another chance of rewriting, so there will be no reason for people to commit suicide here.”
The MEC reiterated that he was expecting nothing less than 80% pass rate from this year’s matric.
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