Basic education minister Siviwe Gwarube. [Picture: Brenton Geach/Gallo Images]
With the 2024 matric examinations drawing to a close, attention now shifts to the mammoth task marking the scripts of nearly one-million students.
According to basic education minister Siviwe Gwarube, more than 50 000 markers will be deployed across 180 marking centres in the country.
A total of 882 336 part-time and full-time students sat for the national senior certificate (NSC) examinations this year.
“The scripts are moving from exam centres to the marking centres under heavy police guard. This is now a big process that we need to focus on and make sure that the integrity of it is sustained,” she told Newzroom Afrika on Thursday.
The minister also told the broadcaster that the department still intended to publish results in newspapers.
This was despite an enforcement notice from the Information Regulator indicating that the practice breached privacy laws.
“Our view is that the publishing of a unique exam number does not amount to the contravention of personal details of learners,” she said.
“We are also guided by [an earlier] court case where the court did in fact affirm that publishing of the results in the newspaper is beneficial to some learners who aren’t able to go back to their schools to go and collect their script. We are still guided by that court ruling and, unless we are interdicted, we will be proceeding with the publishing of the results.”
