Gauteng Education says it is all systems for the 2023 National Senior Certificate (NSC) examinations in the province.
Matric candidates across the country will begin writing the (NSC) on October 31, starting with English Part one.
Education MEC in the province, Matome Chiloane who was at the examination pledge signing ceremony, detailed the province’s readiness for these exams.
Qualifying candidates are required to sign a pledge as an indication of their commitment and compliance to the NSC Examination Code of Conduct.
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This is the fourth cohort to write exams post covid-19.
“This cohort faced a number of destructions between the two years of covid. They have had a significant loss of learning time during that period.
“This is the sixth cohort to participate in examinations where we have included a set of new subjects,” MEC Chiloane said.
A total 191 181 NSC registered candidates will sit down for the examination.
The figure consists of 132 561 full-time candidates and 58 620 part-time/ repeater candidates.
According to the Department, full-time candidates dropped by 6310 while part-time increased by 2771 for the 2023 exams, compared to 2022.
“While this is a drop, the figures were significantly higher when we started. The system has continued to grow and stabilised. As you can see, the numbers are still quite high,” he added.
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The MEC said his department has 1015 examination centres with 93 of those being for part-time and repeated candidates. Of the figure, 738 are public centres and 277 are independent centres.
“We have done a lot to support our matriculates. The secondary school improvement programme was targeting struggling schools.
“We have continued to support them to ensure that they are exam ready and have mental health support,” added the MEC.
He said the Department will tighten invigilation and monitoring processes. This will include scanners at exam centres to prevent the smuggling of cellphones.
In addition, the Department will maximise security at districts and include armed responses, response units, and CCTV cameras during the exam period.
The MEC added that measures were set in place to mitigate possible electricity outages – especially for candidates utilising CAT and IT laboratories.
He assured that centres that do not have generators will have to procure or rent them to avoid disruptions.
“The Department has leased generators to ensure that backup power is available for key processes such as marking and capturing to proceed during load shedding.”
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Last week, quality assurer, Umalusi gave a thumbs-up for the matric examination.
The quality assurance body held a press briefing into the state of readiness of the public and private assessment bodies to conduct, manage, and administer the 2023 matric exams.
Umalusi said audits found that both assessment bodies were ready to administer the exams.
National matric results will be released on January 18, 2024.
