Chance to rewrite matric finals

THE Department of Basic Education (DBE) has taken a decision to scrap supplementary exams and replace it with a new system, which they say will save the department money and also give candidates more time to prepare for the exams.

As from next year, matriculants who have failed or want to improve their results will no longer write supplementary exams. Instead a second national exam will be introduced.

In the past, matrics were normally given until the end of January, a few weeks after getting their results, to apply for supplementary exams, which were normally written between February and March.

The new system will see the exams being written between May and June.

DBE spokesman Elijah Mhlanga said this was a national decision and was supported by education stakeholders, saying it created access for more people to complete their matric. He said the decision was taken for many reasons, with the high cost of supplementary exams being the key factor.

According to Mhlanga, half of the people who qualified to write supplementary exams did not register, and of those who did, more than half never show up to do so.

Mhlanga said the department has to provide sufficient invigilators, tables and chairs, as well as the writing material, which was a huge waste of millions every year when the candidates do not show up.

Mhlanga said there was a high failure rate, possibly because there was not enough time to prepare.

Mhlanga said the second matric exam was unlike the supplementary exams, which only allowed matrics to rewrite two or less subjects the candidate sat for in the previous end-of-year examination.

“You will be able to apply to write whatever subject you have failed, but also, if you want to improve your marks, you can re-do the exam of your choice,” said Mhlanga.