Matrics to write mid-year, final exams concurrently
The late commencement of the final Grade 12 examinations will allow schools and learners adequate time to cover the curriculum, explained the department of education.
THE Department of Basic Education has announced that the 2020 Grade 12s will concurrently write mid-year and final examinations between 5 November and 15 December.
The reconfiguration of the examination calendar comes after the school year was severely disrupted by the lengthy closure of schools since March due to the Covid-19 enforced lockdown.
“Following the closure of schools on 18 March 2020, and the national lockdown to curb the spread of Coronavirus, a decision was taken by the Minister of Basic Education to administer the May/June 2020 examination concurrently with the October/November 2020 examination,” the department said in a statement.
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The late commencement of the final Grade 12 examinations will allow schools and learners adequate time to cover the curriculum and also to ensure that ample time is allocated for revision of the syllabus.
Basic Education emphasised to candidates that this is a combined examination, which implies that all candidates that were scheduled to write the Senior Certificate examination in May/June 2020 and have already registered, will be allowed to write this examination.
Candidates that have also registered for the October/November 2020 National Senior Certificate examination will be allowed to write this examination.
More than 1.1 million candidates are expected to sit for the 2020 combined matric exam and every registered candidate will receive an admission letter by the end of September 2020, listing the subjects for which they have registered and the examination centre where they will write.
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At the time of going to press, the contents of this feature mirrored South Africa’s lockdown regulations.
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