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Education Minister Gwarube pleads for ‘minimal disruptions’ at schools during matric exam period

Education Minister Gwarube pleads for ‘minimal disruptions’ at schools during matric exam period
Victoria O’Regan
By Victoria O’Regan
20 Oct 2024
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It’s all systems go for nearly 900,000 Grade 12s around the country who will begin their National Senior Certificate exams on Monday. The basic education minister has warned against protests at schools during the exam period.

Basic Education Minister Siviwe Gwarube has pleaded with communities to minimise disruptions to the 2024 National Senior Certificate (NSC) exams.      

“We are asking communities to please support us in ensuring there are minimal disruptions to these matric exams. These are important exams for our learners and we want to make sure that there are no disruptions at all – that there are no protests at schools, there’s no protest action in our communities, so that we can make sure that we insulate our learners from outside disruptions as much as possible,” Gwarube said. 

The Department of Basic Education (DBE) was also “pleading” with MPs in Parliament, and the legislatures and local councils, to minimise oversight visits during this time. 

“We want to make sure there’s absolutely no disruptions at our schools. This is a big moment for our matriculants. We want to make sure that they are able to write in peace, and that we give them the requisite space.”

The minister also urged pupils to hold back on using social media during the exams.

“Please stay off Instagram, Facebook, TikTok and other social media to minimise distractions during this critical time.”

Read more: It’s manic matric exam time – here are the mantras for pupils and parents to beat the Grade 12 blues 

At a press conference on Sunday the minister announced her department’s readiness to administer the 2024 NSC exams, which begin on Monday, 21 October. 




According to Gwarube, 727,121 full-time and 155,215 part-time candidates will sit for the exams – a total of 882,336 candidates around South Africa. 

About 16,400 pupils will write Independent Examinations Board exams. 

“These learners have faced a range of challenges throughout their academic journeys, mainly due to the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic in their earlier years of schooling,” Gwarube said. 

“The class of 2024 entered Grade 8 in 2020, right at the height of the Covid-19 pandemic. The disruption caused by the pandemic during these formative years has had a lasting impact on their learning.” 

Read more: Education budget cuts — Gwarube targets graft, SOE bailouts, seeks urgent finance minister meeting

The minister touched on budget cuts within her department, and pleaded for more support for the education sector from the private sector and civil society as the department faces “severe budget cuts”. 

“The system is under strain and needs your help.”  

Quality assurance checks


Gwarube said the setting, printing and distribution of question papers has been finalised, with a total of 162 papers approved by regulatory body Umalusi for the 2024 exams. 

“Taking lessons from previous instances of editing errors, the department introduced additional quality gates for an extra layer of checks,” she said.

Following the 2022 NSC exams, Umalusi was forced to apply for marking concessions with regard to problematic questions in its Mathematics Paper 2. The paper, along with a few others, contained questions that were either incorrect or had certain details missing, which meant pupils could not answer them.

Read more: Remember that problematic matric exam maths question? ‘Valuable lessons’ learnt, says Umalusi

The minister said the department has taken “extensive precautions” to safeguard the integrity of the examination process, including completing audits of all storage facilities around the country “to ensure they meet the required standards” for the secure handling of exam materials. 

“All exam materials will be stored under strict conditions, and provincial education departments have been equipped with standard operating procedures to ensure the safe and secure handling of question papers from printing to distribution.” 

It seems the DBE is not taking any chances this year with quality assurance checks. 

“Distribution trucks will be equipped with tracking systems to monitor their movements and ensure that question papers reach exam centres on time and without compromise. As a department, we will monitor some 6,334 public schools and 575 independent centres where examinations will be conducted,” Gwarube said. 

The department had deployed 70 part-time monitors to oversee “high-risk centres” to ensure the integrity of the exams and help prevent irregularities such as group copying or leaking of papers.

Read more: Umalusi matric irregularities findings — group copying, errors in exam papers heighten concerns

Earlier this year, Umalusi chief executive, Dr Mafu Rakometsi, revealed that the body had detected cases of group copying involving 945 candidates who wrote the 2023 NSC exams. 

Marking process


The department has appointed more than 55,000 qualified markers at 188 marking centres around South Africa, said Gwarube.

“These markers have been selected based on strict criteria to ensure that only experienced and qualified educators participate in the marking process,” she said, adding that external moderators from Umalusi will monitor the process to ensure there is no variation in the quality and accuracy of the marking. DM

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