THE safety and security of learners remain a high priority for the province of KwaZulu-Natal as the Class of 2024 prepares to write their final National Senior Certificate (NSC) examinations which begin on Monday, October 21.
KZN Premier Thamsanqa Ntuli, along with the MEC for Education Sipho Hlomuka and the head of department, Nkosinathi Ngcobo, have warned ‘opportunistic service-delivery protesters’ against using this period to serve their needs by preventing learners from writing their final examinations. Ntuli, Hlomuka and Ngcobo held a media briefing on the province’s state of readiness in Durban on Thursday, October 17.
Hlomuka said, “No school will be interrupted during the examination period. We have had municipal engagements and enlisted security services to ensure that exams are not disrupted by service-delivery protesters who use this period to raise their concerns by stopping learners from writing.”
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The concerns come amid the eThekwini’s and uMsunduzi’s municipalities’ recent implementation of water curtailment measures, which have, in the past, resulted in protests and prevented the writing of exams in some hotspot areas, including the Umlazi District which covers a large part of eThekwini.
“No school will be disrupted because of water or any other service-delivery issues. We have engaged municipalities and local government to ensure that everything goes ahead without a glitch. We have also been in touch with the MEC for Cogta to deal with any other issue that affects schools and the community at large, hence, we are requesting that we work together to protect the future of learners,” said Hlomuka.
Ntuli said the department is conducting close monitoring of the 12 educational districts in the province which it has identified as high-risk areas. He pointed out that the risk includes cheating and the theft of exam papers which have, in the past, affected KZN.
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“Let me assure you that as the provincial government of KwaZulu-Natal, we want to run an exam time that is free of any irregularity. This is important for the integrity of our matric system. The province has put in place adequate measures that will help ensure there are no security breaches at the examination printing centres which may result in exam papers being leaked. MEC Hlomuka and HOD Ngcobo conducted a thorough inspection of the printing facilities and are satisfied that stringent protocols are in place to ensure the integrity of our exam processes,” said Ntuli.
KZN has the largest Grade 12 population in the country with 172 433 full-time and 34 986 candidates registered to write their matric exams. The province will print 120 question papers, which will total 30 million prints.
“There will be 27 morning and 27 afternoon sessions in the NSC exams. In case of inclement weather, emergency measures are in place with SAPS and SANDF on standby to assist with the distribution and collection of examination scripts,” said Ntuli
The 2024 matric exam is set to begin on Monday, October 21, with English and Afrikaans as the first papers. Six weeks later, on Thursday, November 28, CAT P1 and IT P1 rewrites will conclude the exams.
The results of the Class of 2024 will be released on January 15, 2025, following a gruelling marking session, which begins on December 1.
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