Neelam Rahim | neelam@radioislam.co.za

3-minute read
08 October 2023 | 14:03 CAT

Image Credits : SABC-News_Matric_Exams

More than 720,000 candidates have been registered to sit down for grade 12 exams, the Department of Primary Education said on Sunday.

Minister Angie Motshekga announced during a media briefing that the department was ready to commence with the 2023 matric exams.

“This year, we have more than 720,000 candidates registered to sit for the final examination in 6,800 centres. The exam will start on October 30 and conclude on December 5,” she said.

Primary Education spokesperson Elijah Mahlangu spoke to Radio Islam International. He said the big-ticket items are ready in terms of printing and preparing the centres while still in the process of preparing the learners.

“Overall, the system is ready and we look forward to it. Each year is a new year with a new cahoots of learners and we want them to be equally prepared as their peers before,” Mahlangu added.

The minister has urged parents and guardians to support the candidates writing their final exams.

“As a sector, we have done our best to prepare the system. We now need to work together to ensure that our learners are equally prepared and ready for the examination,” she said.

Motshekga also assured the public that they had everything to ensure no question papers would be leaked.

According to Mahlangu, question papers are opened earlier than required at the school level, giving learners who have sight of it an advantage.

“We are now working very hard to clamp down on that behaviour. We have been working with state security who are assisting in the increase of vigilance but also to tighten our systems in terms of the physical environment,” Mahlangu added.

Meanwhile, Motshekga said they would keep engaging with the minister of electricity to ensure that schools were not affected by load-shedding.

“We are monitoring load-shedding. Fortunately, we are able to work during load-shedding during the day. However, we will work closely with the minister of electricity to ensure we tackle this crisis. We cannot be exempted from load-shedding because the electricity network is within the community.”

Listen to the full interview on the Daily Round-Up with Moulana Junaid Kharsany.