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The minister spoke Wednesday during a briefing in Pretoria, where her team gave an update on the progress made in writing the final matriculation exams.
FILE: Basic Education Minister Angie Motshekga at a briefing on June 1, 2020. Image GCIS.
JOHANNESBURG / CAPE TOWN – Basic Education Minister Angie Motshekga said Wednesday that the 2020 academic year would be the most challenging period for the department to date.
Motshekga spoke during a briefing in Pretoria, where her team provided an update on the progress made in writing the final matriculation exams.
The minister said that while the drafting sessions had been largely fluid, there were major setbacks to the service, including power outages on some intuitions, protests outside schools in the Western Cape, and complications created by the taxi strike in Wednesday in Gauteng.
• READ ALSO: Plans in place to mitigate the impact of the taxi strike on enrollment exams – Lesufi
The Department of Basic Education (DBE) revealed that 93 enrollment students had tested positive for COVID-19 across the country, however it was unclear how many were allowed to take their exams at designated quarantine sites.
Motshekga also weighed in on the circumstances surrounding this week’s leak of the Math Paper 2 test.
He said the DBE was disappointed.
“The paper that was leaked on Monday we can confirm without any doubt that it was leaked,” Motshekga said.
“And that is why we have given a very elaborate report on what we have done and what the processes are because among other things we want to do is make sure we go out and be transparent, but also find a way to ally the fears and anxieties of parents and students around the leaked newspaper, ”he added.
The department said COVID-19 cases remained a concern, but its revised safety protocols were helping to manage the impact.
Motshekga said the exam system is now running with minimal challenges in that regard, adding that they were satisfied with the progress made so far.
The Council of Ministers of Education met on Wednesday morning, where they received a report on the progress of the Combined Marriage Examinations.
This year’s exam was the largest yet with more than a million candidates writing across the country.
“We are operating 8,200 test centers in different provinces and we had to hire almost 80,000 supervisors to help us manage the environment. In total, we have 216 question articles that need to be written on different topics, “Motshekga said.
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