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The Department of Basic Education said it has noted Eskom’s announcement regarding stage two load-shedding which is expected to last for at least a week.
According to the department the announcement is extremely unfortunate as it coincided with the start of the first matric exams subject, Computer Applications Technology (CAT) and Information Technology (IT), and electricity was needed for them to write this exam.
Gauteng province commenced the year-end National Senior Certificate (NSC) examinations on October 16 with the administration of the CAT practical examination.
The head of communications for the Department of Education, Elijah Mhlanga, said: “ The extent of the impact has not been established as yet because we are waiting for provinces to report.
“We will provide an update at a later stage. We are monitoring the situation closely and we will look into the possibility of engaging Eskom with a view to alert them of the negative effect the power cuts may have on the national exams.”
Mhlanga said the department has a backup exam which can be scheduled if there are candidates who are not able to write this exams.
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