“No load reduction” during matric exams that require energy

The Department of Basic Education said it had been reassured by power company Eskom and municipalities that load reduction would be suspended during the week of matric exams when students will write subjects on computers.

This was confirmed during a briefing on Sunday.

“There was a meeting between the department and Eskom. We now face the challenge of reducing loads, not load shedding. Eskom said there would be no load shedding, as there is no load shedding (in the country at the moment).

“The topics that require electricity will be written this week and they have promised us that there will be no disruption.

“But we encourage the provinces to start discussions with the municipalities, because they are the ones who are now embarking on this reduction of load.

“Municipalities and the South African Local Government Association (Salga) have promised that the exams will go ahead, although we know some will want to close schools because of the exams,” Makgabo Deputy Minister Reginah Mhaule said.

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Mhaule said the security cluster would monitor the exams and respond to any incidents or disasters that may arise.

High-risk centers

Nearly 900,000 students will take their final exam starting Monday. 882,000 students will write in public schools and establishments, while 16,400 learners will take IEB exams. This is 4,000 more candidates than last year.

70 part-time monitors have been hired to supervise 987 high-risk centers to “prevent irregularities such as group management or exam leaks”, Minister Siviwe Gwarube said at a press briefing on Sunday.

Among these is a center in Mpumalanga. Others include a center which will hold exams for the first time and where irregularities have already been found.

Mhaule said the department would take over these centers and remove all teachers suspected of being involved in cheating.

“The department brought in competent teachers and civil servants from elsewhere to administer the exams. »

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‘Please don’t protest’ during matric exams

Gwarube called on communities to give matrics “the support they need”.

“These are important exams for our learners and we want to ensure there are no disruptions. No protest action at school, no protest action in our communities. This way we can protect our learners from external disturbances as much as possible.

“Protesting is a democratically protected right, but our centers and schools are national assets. More than 800,000 candidates will have this unique opportunity which could change the course of their lives.

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“While we can understand that protests are part of our democratic system, I ask communities to be aware that protests can disrupt this critical time. We would appreciate support from communities.

She also appealed to parliamentarians, legislatures and councils to minimize monitoring visits during this period.

“This is a great moment for our registrants. We want to make sure they write in peace.

For his part, Gwarube said learners should minimize distractions.

“Please stay away from Instagram, Facebook and TikTok during these critical times,” Gwarube said.

“Corrected” anomalies

The ministry said rigorous processes were used to select exam markers.

He acknowledged that “some anomalies” had been detected in the selection of markers for this year’s exams, but these “have already been corrected”.

The matric exam results will be released on January 14, 2025.

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