THE KwaZulu-Natal Department of Education said they are pleased and satisfied with the preparations that are being administered by the Provincial Examinations Chief Directorate.
This was announced by MEC Sipho Hlomuka at a media briefing on the State of Readiness of the Class of 2024 National Senior Certificate Examinations which was held today (October 9) at Westville Boys’ High School.
He said the Department of Education in the province is combat-ready to administer the 2024 National Senior Certificate (NSC) Examinations for the 172 433 full-time and 18 019 part-time candidates.
Hlomuka stated that the department started the 2024 academic year encouraged and excited after the ground-breaking results of the Class of 2023, where KwaZulu-Natal was the second-best performing province in the country.
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“As a province, we always say that our aim and target is to pass all candidates who sit for the final exam pass, thereby obtaining 100% performance. The reality, though, is that there are other factors that sometimes make it difficult to pass all our learners in the system, hence we say, if we regrettably do not attain 100%, we need to ensure that we do not obtain less than 90%, which will still be a great improvement from the 2023 National Senior Certificate Examinations Results.
Driven by the 90% minimum target for all districts in 2024, he said the province planned accountability sessions for all schools that obtained 40% and below in the 2023 NSC Examinations.
“The aim of the sessions was to eradicate the 40%-and-below category of performance in the 2024 National Senior Certificate Examinations.
“The participants in the accountability sessions were school principals, circuit managers, circuit management centre managers, heads of curriculum and district directors.
In addition, the KZN Department also hosted the Winter Classes Programme which Hlomuka said was also aimed to prepare learners and ensure that they are ready to reach this time of the end-of-the-year examinations.
“Our winter tuition, which started on June 26 and continued until July 7, sought to facilitate effective curriculum coverage for both teachers and learners so that all schools complete tuition by August 30.”
Ensuring smooth progress
Hlomuka revealed that there are 32 marking centres with 7 614 markers and 1 517 senior markers, 300 deputy chief markers, 67 chief markers, 87 internal moderators, 32 centre managers, 64 deputy centre managers and 2 100 examination assistants.
“Marking will commence on December 1 and conclude on December 10 in all 32 marking centres for the 2024 National Senior Certificate examination. Marking centres will close on December 18 after the collection of answer scripts and they are sent to the storage facilities in the various districts.
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The National Minister of Education, Siviwe Gwarumbe, will release the NSC results on January 15. Districts will collect their statements of results from the Provincial Head Office on January 15 and release them to schools on the morning of January 16.
“We want to run a free irregularity examinations system to ensure no one is left behind when results are withheld during the release of results.”
Asked if there were any safety measures should there be a case of inclement weather, he confidently said the South African Police and the South African Defence Force services are on standby to assist with distributing and collecting examination scripts.
“The Department of Education has also hired four-wheel-drive vehicles to use in case of such challenges.”
He said that all the education officials played a significant role in ensuring that as a department, they are ready for the 2024 National Senior Certificate Examinations.
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