POLITICS

Local elections: Matric exam time-table has been amended - DBE

Examinations will now start a few days earlier to ensure everyone gets a chance to vote

Basic Education on amendment of matric examination time-table to accommodate Local Government Elections 

15 September 2021

The final National Senior Certificate examination will now start on 27 October 2021, not 1 November as initially scheduled. 

The papers, English (Home Language, First Additional Language and Second Additional Language) P1, Business Studies P1 , and the Non-Official Languages P1, scheduled originally for November 1 and 2 will now be written on 27 and 28 October respectively.   The Council of Education Ministers held a special meeting where the decision was taken earlier this morning. The CEM meeting took place following the series of consultations with the key stakeholders in the Basic Education sector. 

The changes were necessitated by the local government elections which will take place on 1 November 2021. Learners eligible to vote would now be able to cast their   ballots.

In May 2021, CEM approved the 2021 NSC examination Timetable. 

The Minister of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs, Dr Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma on Wednesday last week announced that the local government elections would take place on 1 November 2021.

On Friday, 10th September 2021, consultations took place with key stakeholders that included Teacher Unions, School governing Body Associations and Professional Bodies.

The purpose of the consultation sessions was to deliberate on what would be the most appropriate option regarding a change to the timetable, given that there are five weeks away from the commencement of the examination.

There are 207 question papers to be written over 25 days (5 weeks) and there no vacant sessions in the current 25 day timetable hence the re-scheduling needed to be confined to either to: a) Prior the commencement date; or b) Post the conclusion date.

The best interest of the learner was a key consideration in addition to ensuring that a minimum change to the current timetable was made to avoid confusion. 

The Department of Basic Education urges candidates preparing for the examination to keep working hard. The Department has made available a wide range of resources to assist the learners with support materials on different platforms through the Remote and Digital Learning Programme Woza Matrics.

The learning materials will be delivered across these channels DBETV channel 122 on Openview, SABC1, DSTV CatchUp & Showmax, Mondays and Thursdays 23h00 to 00h00, Saturdays 06h00 to 10h00 and Sundays 07h00 to 08h00. Over and above these time the DBE TV is a 24/7 channel with more matric focused revision evening programmes. 

The Woza Matrics programme also has some psycho-social support, tutor support and exciting competitions.

How to access more information on the Woza Matrics programme:
Website: www.wozamatrics.co.za(link is external)
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/wozamatrics/(link is external)
Twitter: https://twitter.com/wozamatrics(link is external)
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/wozamatrics/(link is external)
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/wozamatrics(link is external) WhatsApp: 061 505 3023

Issued by Department of Basic Education, 15 September 2021