Durban - With fewer than 90 days to go before the start of the National Senior Certificate examinations for matric pupils, the KwaZulu-Natal Department of Education said it was well prepared.
Teacher unions this week said teachers had done their best to prepare pupils. This year’s matric cohort had grades 10 and 11 impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic, which disrupted schooling.
The exams will start on October 31 with English paper 1.
Thirona Moodley, provincial chief executive of the National Professional Teachers’ Organisation of South Africa (Naptosa), said that teachers and pupils were well on track for preparation for final examinations.
“Schools will start trials at the end of the month. Schools will have completed the syllabus by then.”
Moodley said Naptosa appreciated the hard work being put in by parents, teachers and pupils.
“Weekends and school holidays were spent in schools. We do expect an improvement in the results this year.”
Sibusiso Malinga, acting president of the National Teachers’ Union (Natu), said that teachers had done everything they could to prepare pupils for the exams despite facing many challenges.
“On the side of educators, they have done their best to prepare learners for the examinations, they started on the first day when schools were opened however there are issues that contributed to the challenges, shortage of educators has never been adequately addressed, the issue of water.”
He gave the example of the Sukuma High School in Pietermaritzburg, which he said had been without water for almost two weeks and which had been visited by the Department of Education only on Tuesday.
Malinga added that the issue of floods had affected some schools in Durban and disturbed teaching and learning.
“I think we should also talk about the community unrest that occurred in King Cetshwayo schools in KwaMbonambi which were disturbed two weeks before closing for the winter holiday.”
Malinga said that despite challenges, Natu remained positive that the matric class of 2022 would deliver better results than those achieved last year.
Kwazi Mthethwa, spokesperson for the KwaZulu-Natal Department of Education, said the department was ready for the start of the examinations.
“There have been challenges, but we are prepared. We will be having a media briefing later in the year where we will be addressing the administrative issues for the National Senior Certificate Examination.
“We will make an announcement regarding that in due course. At the briefing, we will also clarify any challenges that we have encountered and how we have dealt with those challenges.”
Speaking on the matter at Sukuma High School, Mthethwa said the MEC Kwazi Mshengu had a fruitful meeting at the school.
“The MEC addressed school learners and teachers about the issue of water shortage at the school and the issues around school governance.”