Africa-Press – South-Africa. The 2022 matric exams started on a chaotic note that saw 53 pupils missing their Economics paper due to protests in which shots were fired, a pregnant pupil barred from writing and load shedding that resulted in myriad problems, including lost work.
On Sunday, the basic education department’s director-general, Mathanzima Mweli, gave an update on the progress of the exams during an urgent technical media briefing.
He said while exams went relatively well, serious concerns that posed a threat to the running of the exams had emerged.
According to Mweli, service delivery protests seemed to be the biggest threat to the end-of-the-year examinations.
He has since asked for fewer service delivery protests to allow for the smooth running of examinations.
“Already on Monday, the exams were written by all candidates.
“Fifty-three learners in Gauteng could not write [their] exams simply because of service delivery protests. [The learners] were involved in an area where there were even shooting incidents,” Mweli added.
“We want to make an appeal that learners shouldn’t be prevented from writing exams for any reason whatsoever.”
The pupils who did not write their Economics paper are from Etwatwa in Ekurhuleni.
The department said while it understood dissatisfaction of the SA National Civic Organisation, the leading organisation when it comes to broader civil society, it would like it to allow pupils access to exam centres.
Last week, the Public Servants Association (PSA) served the state with notice of intention to strike.
The PSA officially began its first public service strike in more than a decade, with a “stay away” last Wednesday and a full-blown strike set to follow on Thursday.
Mweli said the disruptions added to the pupils’ trauma as they have already gone through the Covid-19 pandemic, which also had its own trauma for the past two years, load shedding and now being denied the opportunity to write their exams.
The department added it had also noted some parents and schools denied their children from writing exams due to teenage pregnancies and non-payment of school fees.
“This is unlawful. Our policies are very clear on these matters. The issue of school fees should be dealt with by parents or guardians and no learner should be prevented from writing exams because of not paying school fees,” said Mweli.
Residents are urged to report any incidents of this nature to the department to secure the opportunity for the pupils to write their exams.
In Gauteng, 14 computers were blown up during load shedding, destroying the work of 14 Computer Application Technology (CAT) pupils.
The work of two Northern Cape pupils also writing CAT was not saved.
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