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The last minute decision of the Department of Basic Education to allow enrollment students with Covid-19 to write their exams has caused chaos in schools across the country. City press reports.
As late as Monday last week (November 2), the department said that no student enrollment with temperatures above 38 degrees or with Covid-19 would be able to take their final exams at school.
However, on Wednesday night, hours before the first enrollment exam began, the department released a statement announcing that students with Covid-19 could also write, but in different places.
The department told City Press that these different locations referred to the isolation rooms that were supposed to be installed in every school in the country.
But schools across the country interpreted the department’s tuition test announcement differently, causing confusion on the morning of the first exams.
Many students with Covid-19 were affected by the decision, and some were reportedly unable to write or were sent to the wrong places. The decision also drew ire from the teachers’ unions, who raised questions about who will supervise the exams for these sick students.
Matric exams began on Thursday (November 5) and will continue until December 15.
Resume and date changes
The coronavirus lockdown has forced tuition exams to start later than usual this year, as well as the consolidation of some exams that were due to be written in June / July. This means that more than a million students are registered to write in 2020.
While the content of the tuition exams has not changed, other grades will have to contend with a reduced curriculum and reduced teaching time. Parts of the 2020 curriculum will carry over to 2021.
In August, Education Minister Angie Motshekga said that this curriculum would be covered in subsequent grades for several years.
“What we’ve done for internal grades is bring parts of the curriculum from 2020 to 2021, so we will only teach and assess them in just 70% of the curriculum. We are not going to get rid of the work we missed, we are going to include it in 2021, ”he said at the time.
Having moved parts of the 2020 curriculum to 2021, the minister said schools are unlikely to be able to complete the 2021 curriculum.
“So it will be a three-year program to see if we can get back what we have lost. Each school is looking at its own situation with the curriculum and what are some of the resources available.
“What’s left for 12th grade is that their role has been established. They are writing a document that has been in place for two years. Because the paper cycle is 18 months.
“That’s why we postponed the exam to December and we don’t give them a break so they can finish,” he said. By delaying the 2020 Grade 12 exams to conclude before December 15, they would have made up for lost time due to the pandemic.
Schools will reopen later than planned in 2021 due to the coronavirus pandemic, with teachers returning on January 25 and students returning on January 27.
“We are fully aware that the country needs the school calendar for effective planning; and we’ve worked hard to make sure it’s done right; taking into account the disruptions that have occurred in 2020, ”said Motshekga.
“We will have to move some of the curriculum work to 2021 and we have done our best to accommodate everyone’s interests. But our priority is the student. “
The late start to the year is due in part to subsequent matrix exams that were rescheduled to accommodate the disruptions caused by the pandemic.
Read: Radical reform proposed for South African schools, including new subjects and tests
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