ƒ–”‹… ‘—–•‹†‡ SA MINISTER:

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SITEKI – Minister of the Department of SA Basic Education in SA Angie Motshekga, says the offering of the National Senior Certificate (NSC) Matric examinations outside the borders of the SA is not accommodated in the Constitution.

This is in reference to the dilemma of about 603 pupils who may not write their Matric exams this year as the South Africa (SA) Government has stopped the writing of the exams in foreign countries.

In a letter dated May 23, 2022, addressed to the Member of Executive Council (MEC) Education in KwaZulu-Natal, K. Mshengu, titled ‘Terminating the offering of NSC Examination and its quality assurance outside the borders of the RSA,’ she stated that the South African Schools Act of 1996, the National Education Policy Act of 1996 (NEPA), the Regulations pertaining to the conduct, administration and management of the NSC examination and the General and Further Education and Training 4uality Assurance Act was against that arrangement.

Arrangement

The minister said the Department of Basic Education has been engaged with the Eswatini Ministry of Education and Training to regularise this arrangement through a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU).

Motshekga mentioned that she was not authorised in terms of the law to offer the NSC Matric examination outside the borders of the SA because the South African Schools Act was only applicable within the borders of SA. She further stated that the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa Act of 1996 provided for international agreements and stated that the negotiating and signing of all international agreements was the responsibility of the National Executive.

Motshekga said, however, Section, 231 of the Constitution SA did not confer any power on the executive to make the laws of the South African Government applicable to another country. She added: “Therefore, an international agreement that makes the law of the Republic of South Africa applicable to another country is unlawful. In addition, the General and Further Education and Training 4uality Assurance Act of 2001, which refers to the quality assurance function and the issuing of certificates by Umalusi, states that this Act applies to all education institutions, which had been established, declared or registered under the South African Schools Act”. The minister said therefore, the Department of Basic Education (DBE) had no option but to terminate the offering of the NSC examination outside the borders of SA with immediate effect. Furthermore, Motshekga said nonetheless, given that there were learners who had been enrolled to write the 2022 NSC Matric examination, these candidates were granted a special concession to write the 2022 NSC Matric examinations as they had already started with the programme of the year.

“I want to express my sincere appreciation to the KwaZulu-Natal Department of Education and, in particular the Umkhanyakude District, for their role in managing of the examinations in Eswatini over the last few years,” she said. Minister of Education and Training Lady Mabuza clarified the stance taken by South African Department of Basic Education in stopping local Matric pupils to sit for their exams. Mabuza said the South African government made it clear that they would not entertain Eswatini on this subject matter for quite a number of reasons.

Examination

She said the Matric examination was free in South Africa. The local private schools offering Matric charge E2 600 examination fee per pupil. The minister said the legal committee that was dispatched by the South African Government to engage Eswatini highlighted that they were not happy to allow their Matric examination papers to cross their borders as it was risky due to the fact that the papers might be leaked. She said they pointed out that it would be costly to set another paper considering the population of pupils in South Africa if it happened that they got leaked before reaching its destination. The Mafutseni Member of Parliament (MP) stated that the local schools offering Matric should devise a plan on how they could ensure that the pupils sit for the Matric examinations.

The local centre, U-Tech High normally hosts Matric exams for pupils from 10 schools locally namely, Milestone, Mbalenhle Academy, Diamond 9alley, Harrolds, Pro-Learning and Phumelela. The rest are Hillside, :em, Bookville and the host (U-Tech High). U-Tech High School Head teacher Boy Khumalo said they were working around the clock to find a lasting solution about the matter. :orth mentioning is that the local schools offering Matric have secured a centre at Nhlazatje in South Africa for their pupils to sit their Matric examinations.