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319 students were unable to write their matric final exams on Tuesday amid devastating floods in the Eastern Cape.
This was confirmed to The Citizen by the Basic Education Department.
The students were set to write Computer Applications Tech Paper.
Writing would require electricity which has been cut in several parts of Nelson Mandela Bay. There is also no safe drinking water after a treatment plant was flooded.
Eastern Cape education department spokesperson Malibongwe Mtima told The Citizen that five schools in Gqeberha were unable to write their exams on Tuesday.
He said this was due to failed and collapsed infrastructure.
“Among the challenges for students were bridges in the area that collapsed due to flooding. Of the nine schools affected by flooding, four were able to write. These had alternative electricity supplies, such as generators.
“The MEC [Members of the Executive Council] and other officials are inspecting the areas and will soon know how many students were affected.”
National Basic Education Department spokesperson Elijah Mahlangu told The Citizen that the affected students would write their exams at the end of next month.
“They will write on 28 November. It [such an event] was factored in on the exam timetable.”
Several roads in the municipality, including Gqeberha and Kariega, were closed or affected by flooding caused by the rain.
Businesses have closed, as have driver’s licence and testing centres.
Residents have also been warned not to swim in the streets.
ALSO READ: Eastern Cape floods: ‘I have nothing left’ [VIDEO]
Gwarube on Sunday said the Department of Basic Education was working with the national security cluster, including police and the military, to make sure it would be able to respond to such natural disasters.
“We are monitoring the weather warnings. We are working with officials in KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) and Eastern Cape and the director-general of the Department of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (Cogta) so we can remain ready for anything,” education director-general Mathanzima Mweli added.
Despite dozens of structures being affected and several destroyed by bad weather in KZN, the province’s education department said all learners were able to write their exams on Monday.
Speaking to Newzroom Afrika, KZN education MEC Sipho Hlomuka said there were “no reported incidents of disruption to exam processes”.
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