Over 50 000 grade 12 pupils will sit for the start of their final exams in North West. The matric exams kick off nationally, starting with English as the first paper.

According to the MEC for Education in North West, Maphefo Matsemela, pupils will write their exams across 439 centres in the province. She says in a statement that of these centres, 417 are public centres, 20 are independent and two centres are designated for those improving their matric. 

Matsemela says security points for question papers have been intensified with so-called strong rooms, double locking systems, 24-hour security guards, storage managers, alarm systems, and CCTV monitoring. This after numerous reports last year, which indicated that question papers of subjects such as Physics were compromised after being illegally shared with students in some parts of the country.

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"Printing and packaging are done under very secure conditions with surveillance cameras and physical security at all strategic points. Training for monitors, chief invigilators and invigilators was rigorous and this contributes to the successful administration of the examinations," she says.

Matsemela further adds that two to three officials per school have been trained to ensure the smooth running of the examinations - and the training includes a protocol for writing of the examination, the process of conduct of examination, reporting on the conduct of the examination, and the process to be followed at the distribution point. Markers have been selected and are awaiting appointments.

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"Covid-19 has been a disrupter in the administration of year-end examinations in 2020. The class of 2021 found us ready and we equipped learners with much-needed assistance to sit for their examinations. We have a set of committed teachers and subject advisors that played a huge role in equipping our learners and I couldn’t be more proud.

"The class of 2021 is the eighth cohort to be exposed to the Curriculum Assessment Policy Statement (CAPS). Learners are also the beneficiaries of the educational transformation that heralded the move towards a technologically enhanced curriculum," Matsemela concluded.

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