Durban — The KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) Education Department has appealed to communities to protect schools and education by stopping those who try to interfere with teaching and learning activities.
KZN Education MEC Mbali Frazer made this appeal during the 2022 National Senior Certificate (NSC) exam 30-day countdown launch held at Umthwalume High School on Friday.
Frazer said officials from the department would be engaging the SAPS because “we also need their support during this period.”
Speaking during the launch, Frazer said they had noticed a disturbing trend of residents vandalising schools and blocking learners on the way to school during some of the protests.
“If we vandalise educational facilities and stop children from going to school, history will judge us harshly,” said Frazer.
Frazer further said they would be intensifying their revision programmes throughout the month of October so that all learners are more than adequately prepared for their final school assessments.
According to Frazer, a total number of 174 413 full-time candidates and 23 730 part-time candidates have been registered to write the 2022 NSC exams.
There are 1 711 public centres, and 62 independent centres registered in the province, she said. She said all examination centres were audited in preparation to conduct the examination.
“In spite of the large candidate enrolment, all our districts have confirmed that there is sufficient space for the writing of the examination. We must acknowledge that this is an exciting but also equally stressful period but as the department, we have full confidence in all our learners. Last year, KZN suffered a marginal decrease of 0.8% in the matric pass rate and that was mainly due to the impact of the coronavirus on the education sector,” she said.
Frazer also applauded learners and educators for the resilience they have shown in braving both the Covid-19 pandemic and the impact of the April and May floods.
She said that educators continued teaching even during these trying times, which saw many of them taking on responsibilities of social workers, trauma counsellors and relief workers helping the affected learners.
“Notwithstanding the challenges presented by these disruptions, we are confident that our learners have been adequately prepared for their final matric exams.”
The KZN Provincial Government has set an 80% target of matric pass rate for the class of 2022, she said, adding that all districts were instructed to perform at 80% and above.
Frazer said other Provincial Academic Improvement Plan priorities and targets included increasing the number of diploma and bachelor passes and the number of schools passing at 100%.
She said they want to reduce the number of learners passing with school leaving certificates and eliminate zero percentage in schools.
Frazer said their target for the class of 2022 is improving the pass percentage in all languages to more than 90%.
She said the local SAPS will be on standby to assist where there are challenges caused by inclement weather. The department has also hired four-wheel-drive vehicles to use in case of inclement weather.
Sending a message to the learners, Frazer said the upcoming examination is their passport to the future.
She advised them to study hard and use the next few weeks to speak to their teachers and peers about topics that they might not understand.
“You’ve come this far so don’t give up. I know there is always the temptation to stay on social media all day chatting to your friends and watching videos on TikTok but please use the month you have left to focus on your studies.
“Your friends and social media will all be there after you’ve completed your exams in December,” added Frazer.
Daily News