In Parliament, Freedom Front Plus Member of Parliament, Pieter Groenewald had asked the Minister of Basic Education, Angie Motsekga, what precautions her department had taken in the event of load shedding at schools and examination halls. According to Groenewald, the minister said load shedding would, in the main, only affect the writing of Computer Application Technology (CAT) and Information Technology (IT) practical examinations where computers were used.
Groenewald quoted the minister as saying that the Provincial Education Departments have established contact with the regional managers of Eskom, and a request had been made for load shedding to be suspended on the days on which these practical examinations were administered during the trial examinations and the final November examinations.
In addition, the National Education Department would communicate with the acting CEO of Eskom to impress upon him the need to suspend load shedding on the two days on which the final practical examinations were written in CAT and IT.
However, when asked to confirm or deny this, Eskom’s spokesperson Khulu Pasiwe said, “The part about Eskom being asked to ‘refrain from load shedding’ is probably the words used by the writer in their summation of the minister’s response.”
Gauteng Department of Education spokesperson Phumla Sekhonyane said the examinations were written during the day, therefore there would be minimal or no disruption should there be load shedding during this period.
She said, “Schools have just completed their preliminary examinations and the department will, in due course, announce the province’s state of readiness for the final Grade 12 examinations.”
