With only a few days remaining before the start of the 2021 final matric examination, the Mpumalanga Department of Education has confirmed that it has pulled out all the stops to deliver a world-class exam process.

Speaking during the state of readiness at the Hillary Secondary School in Pienaar outside Mbombela on Tuesday, the MEC responsible for this department, Bonakele Majuba, assured the province that his department had already put in motion plans to ensure that the 2021 grade 12 national senior certificate (NSC) examination progresses smoothly and with integrity.

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The examination commences with the writing of English home and first additional language paper 1 on Wednesday October 27.

“Every effort has been made to accurately register candidates and the required verifications have already been undertaken. Preliminary admission letters and attendance registers were issued to schools for usage during the preparatory exams. This process is used as a dry run for the end-of-the-year exams’ administration,” said Majuba.

Some 69 260 learners have been registered as candidates for the 2021 grade 12 examinations in 560 NSC examination centres. This is the biggest number of candidates compared to previous years. In 2019, there were 56 833 candidates and in 2020, 56 030.

Recently, the Department of Basic Education amended the timetable to accommodate the local government elections, which means the examinations will now take place from October 27 to December 7.

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Majuba said the department had already conducted training for chief invigilators.

“Invigilators have been trained to enhance efficiency in the examination administration processes and to entrench examination integrity, credibility and ethical conduct. This examination process will be held within the context of managing the Covid-19 health and safety protocols, and as such, it will be important for examination centres to comply at all times,” he said.

He further explained that writing sessions would be divided into smaller groups with screening, sanitising, social distancing and wearing of face masks enforced at all times.

“An isolation room is required for candidates with temperatures above the expected normal or those who display Covid-19 symptoms. If the temperature does not drop, candidates must be kept and be allowed to write in the isolation room and a social distance of 1.5 metres or more should be maintained. Parents, guardians, relatives and the Department of Health should be notified in such instances. Covid19-positive candidates must write their exams in well-ventilated special rooms and school nurses must be informed or involved, and these cases must be reported to the department,” he outlined.

Marking will take place from December 8 to 22 in 21 marking centres spread throughout the province. The results will be announced on Friday January 21, 2022, at the University of Mpumalanga.