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Sekano-Ntoane High School in Soweto
- Registrants began with their first NSC 2020 final exam on Thursday.
- The department has made concessions and will now allow those who test positive for Covid-19 to continue writing.
- Minister Angie Motshekga said not allowing students who tested positive to write would have meant that 2020 was a lost year for them.
Students who test positive for Covid-19 will be allowed to continue writing their final NSC exams, the Department of Basic Education has said.
This, after the department reached an agreement with the Health Department on Wednesday.
Initially, guidelines issued by the department stipulated that students who tested positive would not be allowed to write.
The department said it received statements from parents and students who asked the government to review the protocols.
The health and education departments then agreed that candidates who tested positive and were deemed eligible to take the test could continue to write, but in isolation and under safe conditions, in accordance with test standards.
The departments would work together to ensure that confirmed positive candidates had the opportunity to sit for exams, while ensuring safety.
READ | What’s it like writing tuition exams in a pandemic?
Speaking at Sekano-Ntoana High School in Soweto on Thursday, Basic Education Minister Angie Motshekga said the health department would intervene as soon as there was an identified case.
She said the deal was a relief, as those students who had not written due to the positive test would only have had a chance to write next June, meaning 2020 would have been in vain for them.
Motshekga said:
As soon as we identify a student with a high fever, we contact the Health Department and then they take over.
He said the normal and standard procedure and screening protocols would remain in place as the tests continued.
The department also previously announced that candidates with temperatures of 38 ° C or higher would be allowed to write in isolated locations.
Motshekga cautioned that the concessions, however, did not mean that people should now be complacent in terms of security measures aimed at preventing the spread of Covid-19.
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