The Council of Education Ministers (CEM) has announced that this year’s Grade 12 results will not reflect the pupils’ names when published in newspapers.
The Department of Basic Education says results for the class of 2014 will still be published, reflecting only the pupils’ exam and ID numbers.
“The CEM has decided that results will be published, but no names will be revealed in newspapers. It will only be the exam number and ID number of the learner which will be able to access the result of the relevant candidate who has written the examination. The task team has recommended the need to review the reporting of matric results, particularly when it comes to publishing the names of candidates,” said Basic Education spokesperson, Elijah Mhlanga.
The decision followed a recommendation from the National Senior Certificate Ministerial Task Team to review the practice of publishing the names of pupils.
A report by a ministerial committee on the National Senior Certificate makes a range of recommendations on key concerns relating to matric exams and says the practice of publishing results publically has “unintended consequences”.
“The extreme embarrassment of candidates who are not successful and are so publicly revealed as failures has serious consequences, and there are cases annually of its leading to self-harm and even suicide,” read the report.
“This practice should be reviewed, given the unintended harm that it may cause and the modern technological alternatives for communication,” it continued. “It is therefore recommended that reporting lists of successful learners’ names and reporting schools by performance levels in the newspapers and other media in the traditional manner be avoided in the future.”
The tradition of publishing the names of successful Matriculants in newspapers may be coming to an end, in the interest of saving candidates who don’t fare as well from the anxiety public disclosure of the results might bring about.
Associate Professor, Rob Siebörger, University of Cape Town’s School of Education said he regarded the publication of results as “a very dated practice.”
“There is very little positive benefit to the publication of the results in newspapers other than some bragging rights, as what really counts now is not the broad category of pass or symbol, but the way in which results will convert to points for tertiary admission – something which the published lists cannot convey. However, I believe it is important that there should still be public access to this information on an official website some weeks after the learners have been informed of their results,” he said.
