Exams moved to fit in with elections

MATRIC pupils eligible to vote in the local government elections are now able to cast their ballots, after the 2021 National Senior Certificate (NSC) examinations were brought forward to accommodate the elections.

The Department of Basic Education yesterday announced that the NSC examination would now start on October 27, and not on November 1, as initially scheduled.

DBE spokesperson Elijah Mhlanga said the changes were necessitated by the local government elections. Minister of Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs Dr Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma announced last week that the local government elections would take place on November 1.

“Learners eligible to vote would now be able to cast their ballots,” Mhlanga said.

The Council of Educations Ministers (CEM) held a special meeting where the decision was taken earlier yesterday.

The CEM meeting took place after a series of consultations with the key stakeholder in the Basic Education sector, according to the department.

On September 10, consultations took place with key stakeholders that included teacher unions, school governing body associations and professional bodies. In May, the CEM approved the 2021 NSC examination timetable.

“The purpose of the consultation sessions was to deliberate on what would be the most appropriate option regarding a change to the timetable, given that there are five weeks away from the commencement of the examination,” the spokesperson said.

The papers English (Home Language, First Additional Language and Second Additional Language) Paper 1, Business Studies Paper 1 and the non-official Languages Paper 1, originally scheduled for November 1 and 2, will now be written on October 27 and 28, respectively.

The department explained that there were 207 question papers to be written during the examination period over 25 days, and there were no vacant sessions in the current timetable, hence the resc heduling needed to be confined, either to prior to the commencement date, or thereafter.

“The best interest of the learner was a key consideration, in addition to ensuring that a minimum change to the current timetable was made to avoid confusion,” Mhlanga said.

Dr Jaco Deacon, acting CEO of the Federation of Governing Bodies of SA Schools, said numerous schools would be used as voting stations.