Africa-Press – South-Africa. As the KwaZulu-Natal Department of Education gears up for matric examinations in a month, MEC Mbali Frazer says law enforcement will be deployed to maintain peace and preserve the integrity of exams during any protests.
Speaking at the NCS exams countdown at Mthwalume High School on Friday, Frazer said the department had noticed a worrying trend of vandalism of schools and destruction of academic programmes during protests.
With 174 413 registered full-time and 23 730 part-time candidates expected to sit for exams at independent and public centres, Frazer said the protection of exam integrity was paramount.
“We are appealing to communities to protect schools and the education of our children by stopping those who try to interfere with teaching and learning activities,” she said.
The MEC said the department had set an ambitious target of an 80% pass rate after a 0.8% decline in last year’s results.
She attributed this mainly to the impact of the Covid-19 lockdown restrictions, under which pupils attended classes in a staggered manner.
Frazer said the department also planned to increase the number of diploma and bachelor passes, the number of schools with a 100% pass rate, and has set a target of more than 90% for languages
She also highlighted the impact of the floods which displaced pupils from their homes and destroyed school infrastructure, saying the class of 2022, like others before it, would be subject to the same standards of quality exams.
The MEC lauded educators for playing dual roles of counsellors and teachers to prepare pupils for exams.
“Our educators continued teaching even during these trying times, which saw many of them taking on responsibilities of social workers, trauma counsellors, and relief workers helping the affected learners.
Notwithstanding the challenges presented by these disruptions, we are confident that our learners have been adequately prepared for their final matric examination.”
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