IT has come to the attention of the RECORD that 150 learners, and not 300 as first reports indicated, from the Alberton Matric Project, a night school operating from Hoërskool Marais Viljoen’s premises, did not receive their results with the class of 2016.
According to one of the parents, Harry Lombard, his son only received his Afrikaans result. “I find this unacceptable,” said Lombard.
There are also allegations that learners who the school knew would not make it at the end of matric are also enrolled in the Alberton Matric Project night school, in order to ensure that Hoërskool Marais Viljoen still achieved a 100 per cent pass rate.
A parent, who wished to remain anonymous, told the RECORD that the Department of Basic Education found out about this and that is why they held the results back
Another parent said that the principal of Hoërskool Marias Viljoen and one of the people from the management refused to address parents and students. The school, however, indicated that the school and management have been in contact with the parents via SMS and emails.
“None of this is true and management of the project has been in contact with the District Director of Ekurhuleni South, and they agree with the management of the project.The management also wants to inform parents and children that they are trying their utter best to get the results. We understand your frustration,” said Martie Heystek, the principal of Hoërskool Marais Viljoen.
The principal explained that the Alberton Matric Project is not a part of Hoërskool Marais Viljoen and that the project, or night school, is only using their premises and some of their teachers, but they are under their own management.
The management of the project told the RECORD that they had inspection on October 18, 2016 from the Department of Basic Education to inspect their Internal School Based Assessment (SBA) and did not receive feedback until this year (2017).
“The reason for all of this is due to part-time matric learners having seven subjects and according to the system they cannot have seven and finish matric within a year,” said the management.
The Alberton Matric Project has been running for five years, to give back to the community by providing learners with a second chance to write matric. The management assured the RECORD that they will review and modulate their SBAs as soon as possible, which will lead to the releasing of their results.
In meeting with the RECORD, management of the project explained that learners from the project always wrote their matric exams with the same registration number / EMIS number as Hoërskool Marais Viljoen, but that changed when the project got its own name and EMIS number.
“The principal went to the DBE on January 5 and they indicated that the marks would be captured after completion of outstanding tasks and we would be able to obtain the printed certificates immediately after capturing..
“Due to the fact that the marks weren’t captured, none of the websites with matric results would have any record of these 150 or so students at all.”
“The one student said having only his Afrikaans mark is of no help, and he wanted to throw the results paper away. We still have no indication of when we’ll get his marks. Understandably, he is quite anxious and our hands as parents are tied,” said another parent, Dianne Kilian. “We only have praise for Hoërskool Marais Viljoen,” she said.
“We ask all parents to please stay calm as we also want the results,” urged the management.
The RECORD did send an email with questions on Thursday, January 12 to the Department of Basic Education, but did not receive comment by the time of going to press. An update will follow as soon as possible.
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