The KwaZulu-Natal Premier Thami Ntuli announced on Thursday that all systems are in place for the National Senior Certificate (NSC) examinations next week.
With just three days to go before the start of the exams, Ntuli assured the public that the provincial government was determined to run an examination that was free of any irregularity.
“The province has in place adequate measures that will help ensure there are no security breaches at the examination printing centres that may result in exam papers being leaked,” he said.
The premier said KZN Education MEC Sipho Hlomuka and the head of department Nkosinathi Ngcobo conducted a thorough inspection of the printing facilities and were satisfied that stringent protocols were in place to ensure the integrity of the exam processes.
“In line with this, under the leadership of MEC Hlomuka, all matriculants will tomorrow, on the 18th of October, sign a pledge committing to upholding the credibility and integrity of the matric examinations process,” he said.
He said the department was conducting close monitoring of examination centres identified as being high risk in all 12 districts.
These include 1 centre in Amajuba, 11 in Pinetown, 4 in Harry Gwala District, 6 in Umkhanyakude, 6 in UThukela, 19 in uMzinyathi, 19 in uMlazi, 8 in Zululand, 8 in King Cetshwayo, 7 in Ugu, 7 in iLembe and 18 in Umgungundlovu.
As the province has been dealing with various extreme weather events recently, including a snow storm, wildfires, a tornado and flooding that devastated some areas and resulted in several deaths, Ntuli said measures had been taken to ensure weather-related events would not affect the exams.
“In case of inclement weather, emergency measures are in place with SAPS and the SANDF are on standby to assist with the distribution and collection of examination scripts. Our Department of Education has also hired four-wheeldrive vehicles to help with logistics,” said the Premier.
He said while the plans put in place were similar to previous years, they have been enhanced.
“Even along the way, when the papers are travelling to the schools, we are putting together systems that will mitigate any factors that may disrupt the examinations,” Ntuli said, adding that the province was “ready” for any concerns related to schools.
MEC Hlomuka stated during the briefing that the province has hired more monitors.
“There are areas that have been identified in terms of cheating or security in eThekwini, uMlazi and Umzinyathi.
We have ensured that we have more personnel monitoring those hotspot areas already identified,” he said.
With regard to security, the MEC said the department was working with the security cluster as well as private security companies to deal with any challenges that may arise.
Hlomuka said these plans will ensure swift action should a challenge arise during the exams.
Both eThekwini and Msunduzi municipalities recently announced water curtailment measures as a result of bulk supplier uMngeniuThukela Water reducing its supply in terms of a Water and Sanitation department directive.
Hlomuka allayed fears that schools would be disrupted due to water or any other service delivery issues.
“We have engaged with municipalities to ensure that they will work with us.”
The Mercury