A Gr 12 learner from a high school in the Polokwane municipal area was this week allowed to rewrite an English First Additional Language examination of October 31, which she was initially scheduled to write between November 7-8.

However, on the day (when other learners who missed examinations for various reasons where also allowed to write) the minor’s mother was left shocked.

She had made prior arrangements with Kgakoa Secondary School that her daughter write in hospital due to abrupt medical complications, but on the day in November, the invigilator and subject advisor decided that the venue was not conducive for an examination during the time at which the exam was scheduled.

The chairperson of Saviour Association of School Governing Body, Caiphus Moshutla, says through the department, the invigilator responsible gave the learner an option to be driven to Mastech Institute or the school, where an agreement to rather use the school premises was reached.

To her dismay, the prescribed two-hour examination period lapsed when the two reached the school.

“Although fault was on their part due to last-minute changes, they said the learner still could not write and when they approached them [mother and learner], we filed an urgent application for the court to hear their case,” he says.

The Limpopo High Court: Polokwane Division granted the learner permission to take the exam, after they ruled the provincial Department of Education was to blame for the mishap.

On November 29, in the matter presided over by acting judge Karen Pillay, the high court ordered that the learner should write on Thursday, along with those scheduled to write during the extended period.

The order advised that the results be released simultaneously with the general National Senior Certificate examination in 2023.

“The results of the English First Additional Language Paper 1 Examination in paragraph three to be released simultaneously with the general release of the 2022 National Senior Certificate examination results in 2023. Costs are reserved,” it read.