Matric exams off to a good start: Education Department

2-minute read
31 October 2023 | 17:05 CAT

Image Credits : SABC_News_ matric exam

It has been a long road with many ups and downs, but now it is crunching time for the Class of 2023, who wrote their first exam, English paper one, yesterday, as the National Senior Certificate examinations began.

More than 700-thousand matriculants are expected to sit for their final examinations across six-thousand-898 centres from today. Addressing the media on the state of readiness for the exams on Sunday, Basic Education Minister Angie Motshega said that these figures are not merely statistics but embody the aspirations, dreams and relentless efforts of all Grade 12 learners.

Department spokesperson Elijah Mhlanga says they’re still waiting for the final report on how the exam went in all the provinces. Still, so far, there have not been any incidents reported.

The Department is confident that there will be no repeat of the leaking of exams seen in previous years.

Mahlanga says, “After the 2020 incident of a leaked question paper in 2021, we secured all the papers; in 2022, we did the same. But we are not complacent; we have gone on to put more measures to make sure that this time around, it also doesn’t happen. We believe what we have done will help us, and we pray that things go according to plan.

Listen to the full interview on Your World Today with Annisa Essack.

Decoder Reset for Radio Islam International Listeners

Radio Islam International listeners are advised that our service provider, Sentech, has completed a major upgrade to their satellite systems. This upgrade has resulted in a change to the symbol rate, which means that many decoders will need to be manually retuned to...

Shaun Hitchcock: Rebuilding Life Through One Small Act Of Kindness

Rabia Mayet | rabiamayet@radioislam.co.za 09 October 2025 2-minute read Sometimes life doesn’t unfold the way we dream it would. Carrying not only the weight of survival, but also the burden of lost opportunities, Shaun Hitchcock found himself on the streets with...

Port of Gauteng

Rabia Mayet | rabiamayet@radioislam.co.za 07 October 2025 3-minute read The decline and deterioration in the inland transportation links in across South Africa over the last two decades has led to a “white paper” documenting new plans by NT55 Investments, a R50...

Section27, Teddy Bear Foundation take DBE to court over Child Protection Register failures

Neelam Rahim | neelam@radioislam.co.za 3-minute read | 08 October 2025 | 15:58 CAT A joint legal action by Section27 and the Teddy Bear Foundation against the Department of Basic Education (DBE) and other state entities has highlighted the government’s failure to...

Gaza Genocide: Global Outrage Mounts as Civilian Death Toll Soars

Neelam Rahim | neelam@radioislam.co.za 3-minute read | 08 October 2025 | 11:45 CAT As Gaza endures relentless bombardment and siege, the staggering civilian death toll continues to haunt the conscience of the international community. More than 66,000 Palestinians,...

Two years later: Remembering, reflecting, resisting

8 October 2025 | 10:44 CAT 2-minute read Mapping Israel’s Decline As the world marks two years since the most recent outbreak of Israel’s onslaught on Gaza, global economic pressures on Israel have surged to levels that scholars, economists, and investment firms...