Matric exams will now start two days earlier
The decision to bring forward the start of the final National Senior Certificate (NSC) examinations has been met with glee by both educator unions and the Class of 2021, who are looking forward to finishing the year on a high.
Originally scheduled to begin on 1 November, matric exams have now been brought forward by the Department of Basic Education (DBE) to start on 27 October, due to the date clash with the local government elections which will take place on 1 November. Department spokesperson, Elijah Mhlanga, said the decision was taken following a special meeting by the Council of Education Ministers (CEM). He said: “The CEM meeting took place following the series of consultations with the key stakeholders in the basic education sector. The changes were necessitated by the local government elections which will take place on 1 November 2021. Learners eligible to vote would now be able to cast their ballots.”
The papers, English (Home Language, First Additional Language and Second Additional Language) P1, Business Studies P1, and the Non-Official Languages P1, scheduled originally for 1 and 2 November will now be written on 27 and 28 October, respectively. Mhlanga said consultations took place with key stakeholders on 10 September and that included educator unions, school governing body associations and professional bodies. “The purpose of the consultation sessions was to deliberate on what would be the most appropriate option regarding a change to the timetable, given that there are five weeks away from the commencement of the examination. There are 207 question papers to be written over 25 days, a period of five weeks and there no vacant sessions in the current 25-day timetable, hence the re-scheduling needed to be confined either to prior the commencement date or post the conclusion date. The best interest of the learners was a key consideration in addition to ensuring that a minimum change to the current timetable was made to avoid confusion.”
Matric learner, Siphosehle Khumalo, said she was pleased with the decision. “Last year, matrics were still writing their exams in December and they didn’t get their results until February this year which meant a delay in starting university so I am glad that might not happen to the Class of 2021. We have been studying hard and suffered through everything and we just want to write our exams and finish the year properly.” The decision was also welcomed by educator unions who said the learners will be able to cope with the adjusted schedules and it was an understandable decision as most schools are used as voting stations.
