DBE in final stages of preparing for 2017 Matric exams
Registration of National Senior Certificate SC examination centres and candidates countrywide have been completed and final verification of the data is currently underway.
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POLOKWANE – Question papers have also been set and externally moderated.
This is according to a media release by Elijah Mhlanga, Spokesperson for the Department of Basic Education (DBE).
There are 636 814 registered full-time and 161 475 part-time candidates writing the 2017 examinations, 37 000 less than 2016 in terms of full-time enrollment. Of these, 110 639 candidates are from Limpopo.
The DBE is in the process of finalising preparations for the administration of the examinations. Earlier this month the Director-General, Mathanzima Mweli, leading a team from the DBE to brief the Portfolio Committee on Basic Education on the state of readiness for the final matric examinations, said the department was confident it would once again run credible and efficient examinations given its complex and involved nature.
Mweli also presented a detailed intervention plan to support Vuwani schools in the wake of the shutdown in the town. The plan covers all 26 secondary and 52 primary schools, involving 29 066 learners of which 1 657 are in Gr 12.
“To avert the leakage of 2017 question papers, all storage points across the country have been audited,” Mweli assured the Portfolio Committee. The audit was done to ensure compliance with the minimum security standards. The Director for Examinations, Priscilla Ogunbanjo, told the Portfolio Committee the education sector had adopted a principle of “just-in-time” printing to reduce the risk of storing printed question papers for too long in provinces.
The Gr 12 final examinations will commence on 24 October and conclude on 29 November and the Minister of Basic Education will announce the outcome of the 2017 NSC Examinations on 4 January 2018.
Candidates will be able to collect their statements of results on 5 January 2018 at the centre where they wrote their examinations.
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