The Department of Basic Education (DBE) has postponed the May/June amended Senior Certificate and National Senior Certificate Examination due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
More than 350 000 part-time candidates were to sit for the matric examination.
Those who were meant to sit for the exams include candidates who did not meet the pass requirements in the 2019 final exams, as well as those who sought to rewrite to improve their marks.
DBE Director-General Mathanzima Mweli wrote a letter to the heads of the provincial Education Departments, confirming the changes to the plan for the examinations.
The outbreak of COVID-19 led to the early closure of schools during the first term and the declaration of a 21-day lockdown by the President, commencing from 26 March.
“The lockdown has since been extended until Thursday, 30 April 2020. This has resulted in a disruption to schooling and hence the writing of May/June 2020 examinations has to be re-scheduled,” said Mweli on Saturday.
The May/June 2020 examination was scheduled to start on Monday, 4 May 2020 and conclude on Friday, 26 June 2020.
“At the HEDCOM meeting of 10 April 2020, it was agreed that the May/June examination should be merged with the November 2020 examination,” said Mweli.
The Director-General said details regarding the merged June and November examination will be communicated in due course.
“Candidates will be informed regarding registration, examination centres and time-tables,” said Mweli.
The department urged all candidates to continue with their preparations, as learning and revision material has been made available on the department’s website www.education.gov.za.
“The Second Chance Matric Support Programme link on the website is still available to assist especially those who had been studying independently as part-time candidates,” Mweli said. – SAnews.gov.za
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