Durban - KwaZulu-Natal MEC for Education Mbali Frazer says it’s all systems go for the critical matric year-end examinations as the official countdown has begun.
Frazer said that a total of 174 413 full-time candidates and 23 730 part-time candidates had been registered to write the 2022 National Senior Certificate Examinations.
Frazer said that with fewer than 30 days to go, schools would intensify their revision programmes.
“This will happen throughout the month of October so that all our learners are more than adequately prepared for their final school assessments.’
Frazer added that there were 1 711 public centres and 62 independent centres registered as examination centres in the province.
“All examination centres were audited in preparation to conduct the examination. In spite of the large candidate enrolment, all our districts have confirmed that there is sufficient space for the writing of the examination.”
The MEC said the department had full confidence in all pupils.
“Last year, KZN suffered a marginal decrease of 0.8% in the matric pass rate and that was mainly due to the impact of the coronavirus on the education sector. Our learners and educators must be applauded for the resilience they have shown in braving both the Covid-19 pandemic and the impact of the April and May floods. Our educators continued teaching even during these trying times which saw many of them taking on the responsibilities of social workers, trauma counsellors and relief workers helping the affected learners.”
She added that it should also be noted that despite the abnormal context, the class of 2022 would be subjected to the same high quality of examinations that previous cohorts went through.
“The KZN Provincial Government has set an 80% target for the matric pass rate for the class 2022. All our districts were also instructed to perform at 80% and above. Throughout the year, the department partnered with numerous stakeholders in rolling out our academic improvement plan which sought to improve the overall matric pass rate as well as the performances in gateway subjects such as physical sciences, agricultural sciences, mathematics as well as other technical subjects.”
Frazer said that other provincial academic improvement plan priorities and targets included increasing the number of diploma and bachelor passes and the number of schools passing at 100%.
“We also want to reduce the number of learners passing with school-leaving certificates and eliminate zero-percentage schools. Our target for the class of 2022 is improving the pass percentage in all languages to more than 90%.”
She added that as part of the preparations for the final exams, officials from the department would engage the SAPS.
“The local SAPS will be on stand-by to assist where there are challenges caused by inclement weather. The Department of Education has also hired four-wheel-drive vehicles to use in case of inclement weather. The weather bureau will provide forecasts to warn the system of possibilities of heavy rains.”
Frazer added that the SAPS would also be called in to deal with community protests.
“We have noticed a disturbing trend of residents vandalising our schools and blocking our learners on the way to school during some of the protests. We are appealing to our communities to protect our schools and the education of our children by stopping those who try to interfere with teaching and learning activities. One of the founding fathers of our democracy, uBab’ OR Tambo, once remarked; "The children of any nation are its future’.”
Frazer said she also wanted to extend the department’s gratitude to parents, educational stakeholders and civil society for supporting Grade 12 pupils throughout their schooling years.
Frazer added a message of encouragement to matric pupils writing their final examination.
”I would like to turn my attention to our learners. You are really our pride and joy and we want to see all of you succeed in life. The upcoming examination is your passport to the future, so make the most of them. Study hard and use the next few weeks to speak to your teachers and peers about topics that you might not understand. You’ve come this far, so don’t give up. I know there is always the temptation to stay on social media all day chatting to your friends and watching videos on TikTok, but please use the month you have left to focus on your studies.”