Nokwanda Dlangamandla | kzn@radioislam.org.za
2 min read | 11:00

Student Writing Exam
Photo Credit: IOL

More than 920 000 matric students began writing their National Senior Certificate exams on Monday.

Despite worries that many students were impelled to drop out due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Department of Basic Education reported that this year’s final matric test hopefuls are writing more of them.

Mugwena Maluleke, the general secretary of the South African Democratic Teachers Union (SADTU), spoke to Radio Islam International about the union’s worries over load-shedding during the matric exam. He mentioned that disturbances brought on by power outages could make teachers and students anxious.

The department met with the unions to resolve disagreements, leading to threats to interrupt exams. According to the Education Department, there were no plans to have teachers interfere with the matric exams.

Angie Motshekga, the Minister of Basic Education, and Matome Chiloane, the Provincial Minister of Gauteng, oversaw the beginning of the final National Senior Certificate Examinations on Monday in Tshwane.

Maluleke praised educators for going above and beyond the call of duty to help matric students succeed in their final exams and expressed optimism that the class of 2022 will perform better than the class of 2021, which had setbacks due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

With around 923,000 exam candidates, the class of 2022 is the largest matric cohort ever seen in the nation.

Listen to the interview with Sulaiman Ravat, who hosted Mugwena Maluleke, the general secretary of the South African Democratic Teachers Union (SADTU), on Sabahul Muslim.