THE recently appointed KZN Education MEC, Mthandeni Dlungwane held a special function to commemorate the official 100 day countdown to the National Senior Certificate (matric) exams in Glenwood on Friday.
“The main feel that the 2016 NSC Examinations has started, will be on the 24 October 2016 when every child will either be writing English Home Language First Paper or English First Additional Language First Paper. This will mark exactly 100 days before the start of the main examinations,” Dlungwane said.
The MEC said the decline of the matric results in 2014 and 2015 led to the review of the Provincial Academic Improvement Plan (PAIP). “As a Department of Education, we resolved that we were going to bounce back from our setback. Our Provincial Academic Improvement Plan was then conceptualized as our guide, our barometer and our pathfinder to reclaim our glory and bring back KwaZulu-Natal to its rightful place,” he said.
The objectives of the Academic Improvement Plan seek to achieve an improvement on the overall pass percentage of the province, pass percentage of the 12 districts of education in KZN. To increase the number of passes in large and gateway subjects, to do away with 0% to 30% pass rates schools, to reduce the number of schools performing below 60% and to improve the quality of passes by increasing the total of Bachelor passes.
“Once our plan was approved and adopted by all relevant bodies, it was released to districts in order for districts, schools and subject plans to be aligned to it,” the MEC explained,”One of the key activities of the Provincial Academic Improvement Plan is to implement the Matric Supplementary Tuition Programme.”
This programme includes morning, afternoon and weekend classes; winter and spring classes/camps and school revision programmes. The supplementary tuition programme is a coordinated attempt of the system to ensure that schools provide learners, especially in under-performing schools and under-performing subjects with expanded opportunities to increase their chances of success.
“Our 100 days countdown means that we are on the last mile towards the 2016 National Senior Certificate Exams. The task is momentous, but not insurmountable,” he concluded with the lighting of a candle, a prayer and the ringing of a bell which signalled the countdown had begun.
