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The Portfolio Committee on Basic Education today received an update report from the Department of Basic Education (DBE) and the Council for Quality Assurance in General and Further Education and Training (Umalusi) on examination readiness for the National Senior Certificate (NSC).
 
The committee noted concerns that the weather has already had an impact on the examinations, testing the DBE’s contingency plans in Gqeberha in the Eastern Cape, where storms affected electricity supply, preventing Grade-12 learners from doing the Computer Applied Technology (CAT) practical examination, which was scheduled for today.
 
The committee has however been assured that as part of its planning, the DBE ensures that more than one question paper is set and quality approved by Umalusi for each exam paper, so the 400 affected learners will do the examination on another date.
 
Committee Chairperson Ms Joy Maimela said although the committee was concerned about back-up plans to deal with all eventualities, “Our fears have been allayed due the contingency plans reported on today. We urge the DBE and provincial education department to take note of further weather warnings and make the necessary plans to accommodate our matric learners.”
 
The committee heard that the first day of the examinations passed swiftly and seamlessly. Over the 28-day examination period, 200 question papers are scheduled to be written. Six question papers were written on day 1 (21 October 2024). Today, a further 15 papers are being written on Computer Applications Technology (Practical) and non-official languages. Tomorrow will be Business Studies and Information Technology.
 
In its preliminary briefing on examination readiness last month, the committee heard that that 727 121 full-time candidates and 155 215 part-time candidates are registered for this year’s NSC examinations. A total of 6 334 public schools and 575 independent centres are serving as exam centres.
 
The seventh cohort of learners is to sit for South African Sign Language Home Language (SASL HL) examinations. A total of 210 candidates for the SASL HL exams come from 23 schools in nine provinces, compared to 134 candidates in 2023.
 
The committee previously heard that more than 55 000 markers have been appointed. Concerns were raised by committee members about reports of a shortage of markers for certain subjects. The DBE said today that there is a shortage in History, English (HL) and Afrikaans (HL and FAL). To overcome this problem, a staggered marking approach has been adopted by some provincial education departments (PEDs) so that the Paper 3 of the languages are marked in the first session. Other PEDs have embarked on a second recruitment drive and a few PEDs have extended the number of marking days. The committee was assured that the shortage of markers will not compromise the quality of marking.
 
In this regard, Umalusi said it has concluded the audit of the appointed markers to verify that their appointments align with established criteria, except for four provinces – North-West, Limpopo, Free State and Northern Cape – which will be finalised by 30 October 2024.
 
Umalusi indicated that it is satisfied with the continuous enhancement of security measures, particularly the expedited vetting of individuals involved in handling live question papers. To mitigate the identified risk regarding the partially approved storage points, with specific reference to the DBE, the DBE will use concessions from the heads of provincial departments (HODs) to grant permission, and Umalusi will conduct a sample on some of these storage facilities for monitoring purposes.
 
Umalusi said that during the verification of marked scripts, Umalusi will track how the PEDs are managing the marking process in subjects where marker shortages were identified as a risk. Additionally, Umalusi will closely monitor the implementation of the staggered marking approach to ensure the credibility of the examinations.
 
Ms Maimela wished the class of 2024 every success and said she hoped they will surpass the achievements of the class of 2023.
 
The committee was also scheduled to meet with the Western Cape Education Department (WCED) regarding budget cuts, post declarations and the committee’s observations during its recent oversight visit to the province. The meeting could not continue, however, as MEC Mr David Maynier indicated that the WCED would have to leave the meeting at 12:00 to meet with the provincial budget office to discuss funding, which gave the committee less than 20 minutes to receive the presentation and engage on it.
 
“We wanted to meet you on Friday and you said you are not available. We slotted you in today and now you once again have to be somewhere else. We noted the same type of disregard from the province during our oversight visit. You must account to us, to Parliament and we will not accept this type of attitude,” said Ms Maimela.
 
The committee resolved to meet with the WCED on Tuesday to discuss, amongst other things, “the serious matter of 2 400 teaching posts that will be cut in 2025 academic year”, Ms Maimela said.

Issued by the Parliamentary Communication Services on behalf of the Chairperson of the chairperson of the Portfolio Committee on Basic Education, Joy Maimela