DA requests DBE to appear before Parliament following failed Multiple Exam Opportunity programme

26 August 2019

The Democratic Alliance (DA) has requested that the Director General of the Department of Basic Education, Hubert Mweli, appear before the Portfolio Committee on Basic Education, in order to address the complete failure of the Multiple Exam Opportunity system.

The Department’s plan to have “progressed matric pupils” write exams over two years has a success rate of only 8%. According to recent reports, of the 78 363 pupils who wrote their exam papers over two years, only 6 320 passed. Subsequently 10 465 pupils dropped out of the system completely and did not even complete all their remaining papers in the second set of exams.

We need to understand how more than 60 000 pupils failed, 10 000 pupils dropped out and what interventions the Department implemented to ensure that these pupils, who eventually wrote the examinations, were in fact prepared.

Independent experts are of the opinion that the Department has not provided these pupils with sufficient support. This is critical since these pupils were progressed to grade 12 after failing grade 11 more than once.

We are well aware that Minister Angie Motshekga has announced that the two-year system will be scrapped from next year, however, the DA still believes that the committee deserves an explanation as to what went wrong with the programme.

The policy of progressing learners who have failed more than once requires that the Department provide a large amount of commitment and support to such learners. It is our duty to ensure these learners receive the  best levels of support, so that they may have a chance to achieve what they were originally unable to do alone, and to ensure that they are fully equipped to enter the jobs market.

Issued by Nomsa Marchesi, DA Shadow Minister of Basic Education, 26 August 2019