CAPE TOWN - As matric exam markers across the country are expected to “pens down” today, the Western Cape Education Department said it was also on track to complete National Senior Certificate (NSC) exam scripts in the province.
More than 897 700 candidates registered to sit for the November 2021 NSC examinations, comprising 735 677 full-time candidates and 162 109 part-time candidates.
About 41 500 markers were appointed to mark the scripts at 193 centres located in nine provinces.
They started working on December 8 and are expected to conclude on Wednesday.
The Northern Cape, Limpopo and Mpumalanga province completed their marking ahead of time, on Tuesday.
The provinces were now expecting to get into the process of finalising the capturing of marks and standardisation.
Kerry Mauchline, spokesperson to MEC Debbie Schäfer, said the marking process went smoothly in the Western Cape, and she thanked all of the officials and markers for their hard work.
The province had more than 3 300 markers to mark 890 000 examination scripts at 11 marking centres.
“The major power outage in Cape Town has not delayed our marking schedule. Overall, the 2021 NSC exams have proceeded without major disruptions, and we thank all of our staff and the residents of the Western Cape for making this year’s exam period a success. We now look forward to receiving the results of the class of 2021 in January,” said Mauchline.
Department of Basic Education (DBE) spokesperson Elijah Mhlanga said while they were confident that all marking would be completed, the process was not without challenges.
This after several markers were forced to pull out in some centres after they contracted Covid-19 and a storm damaged a marking centre in Thaba-Nchu, Free State.
“The Department worked very closely with the Department of Health to ensure that all marking centres were fully compliant to the Health and Safety Protocols and to deal with any emergency that could occur. Marking centres implemented stringent Covid-19 protocols including daily screening, the appointment of compliance officers, the supply of masks, sanitising stations as well as social distancing,” said Mhlanga.
Matric results are expected early next year.
Cape Times