New Covid-19 plan for matrics to write exams

Positive candidates to use sites away from their schools

Eastern Cape matric candidates who test positive for Covid-19 are to write their examinations in isolated classrooms at their schools.

So far there are 104 matric candidates from across the country who have tested positive for Covid-19.

Eastern Cape is taking the lead with 74 candidates followed by Free State with 15, Western Cape 11 and Gauteng four.

On Wednesday, the department of basic education announced that there were clear Covid-19 protocols in place for candidates who test positive for Covid-19 to be allowed to write their exams. The department said the candidates would write their examination in quarantine sites, and if those were full they would be given an opportunity to write exams from their homes

However, Eastern Cape is the only province that had not yet identified an isolated venue where positive Covid-19 candidates can continue to write their exams.

Eastern Cape education department spokesperson Vuyiseka Mboxeka said candidates who tested positive for Covid-19 wrote their exams in isolation classrooms at their schools as they were dealing with a small number.

The school principal and the management team are responsible for arranging transport for the infected candidates, but those using private transport has to follow strict Covid-19 regulations.

When they get to school their temperature is monitored from the beginning of the exam till the end so that when they need medical help they can be referred to a health facility attached to the school,” Mboxeka said.

Free State education department spokesperson Howard Ndaba said the 15 candidates who tested positive for the virus were writing their exams, while Western Cape education spokesperson Bronagh Hammond said the department had arranged for isolated venues in buildings outside of schools.

“No Covid-19-positive candidate can write at a school, therefore alternative venues have been sought across the province so that these learners can be assisted. A candidate whose temperature is consistently above 38°C after the regular 10-minute checks in the first 30 minutes must be taken to the isolation room at the centre for the candidate to sit for the examination,” he said.

Gauteng education’s Steve Mabona said the four candidates were referred to Nasrec Covid-19 field hospital to continue writing their exams.

No positive candidate can write at school