The journey ends for matric pupils

Minister Motshekga hails ‘incident-free’ examination

Yesterday marked the official end of the 2017 National Senior Certificate (NSC) examination for 802 636 candidates‚ 634 527 of whom are full-time learners.

The Department of Basic Education said the examinations written yesterday were Agricultural Science and Design. The exams began on October 16.

“The task of marking millions of examination scripts has already begun in Gauteng and Limpopo. The remaining provinces are due to commence [marking] tomorrow‚” the department said.

There are 44 911 markers and 144 marking centres across the country, checking over 10-million answer sheets. Minister Angie Motshekga said the exams “have been free of any major incident”.

This year‚ the department placed increased emphasis on security to combat risks associated with the storage and movement of examination scripts. The department did so by employing the “Just in Time” printing approach which allowed for examination scripts to be printed as close as logistically possible to the writing of the examination.

The department added: “Despite minor disruptions caused by protest marches that took place during this period‚ these presented no significant threat to the administration of the 2017 NSC examinations, and the department acknowledges all candidates‚ teachers and invigilators who have made the process largely incident-free”.

Motshekga will release the matric results on January 4, while the learners will get their results the following day. –

/ MDUDUZI NDZINGI Palesa Maboya, left, Malerato Kgokong and Kefentse Kabosa from Mosupatsela Secondary School in Kagiso celebrate finishing their exams.