The Gauteng Department of Education (GDE) says it has done everything possible to provide the best possible chance for each of the 153 973 matric pupils to do well in the National Senior Certificate examination (NSC) which commences today (Wednesday, 19 October).
“We want to assure the people of Gauteng that we are ready as a province,” said Oupa Bodibe, the GDE’s acting head of communication.
The NSC examination starts today with the Computer Applications Technology Practical exam and concludes with Design on 29 November 2016. The districts and Provincial Monitoring Team (PMT) will efficiently monitor the NSC examinations. The main exam starts on 24 October, with the first English paper.
Bodibe said the Gauteng Province has registered the second highest number of candidates, second only to KwaZulu-Natal.
In total, 153 973 candidates have registered to write their exams in Gauteng, compared to 169 661 in KwaZulu-Natal and 110 565 in Limpopo (third highest). Of the Gautengers, 112 192 are full-time candidates, while 41 781 are part-time candidates.
The candidates will be writing their exams in 1 158 centres across all our 15 Districts in Gauteng.
Exams time can be very stressful and as part of measures to support pupils during this period, the Department has a standing agreement with Child Line to assist pupils who find themselves in stressful situations due to pressure they might experience from the exams. Learners can phone Child Line on 08000 55 555 for counselling assistance.
Bodibe added, “The results of the exams will be released on the 5 January 2016 at schools and will give us a clear indication on how we are doing as we aim to compete at an international scale especially in maths, science and technology.
“We would like to wish all our Grade 12 and all our pupils the best of luck and assure them that they have our full support. We are saying to them, when combining inspiration and hard work, the reward is always fulfilling.”
As motivation, the department said they have continuously encouraged pupils to aim very high and offer several incentives.
The top three achievers in each township school automatically obtain a full bursary which includes registration fees, tuition fees and prescribed books to the maximum bursary amount of R55 000 per academic year at a Higher Education Institution.
In addition, each school that scores 100 percent pass will automatically become a full Information Communication Technology (ICT) schools. That means from Grade 8 to 12 the schools will be fully kitted with smart boards, pupils receive tablets with educational content and educators are provided laptop computers for teaching.
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