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Blackouts won't harm exam writers - ministry

Cape Town – South African students writing exams were cautioned to remain calm amid the possibilities of load shedding, which could disrupt proceedings.

The department of basic education (DBE) told Fin24 that it has “made provision for any untoward incident or occurrence that may impact learner performance in the NSC Examinations”.

“Umalusi, the Quality Assurance Council, has a well-established standardisation process that is designed to detect any element of unfairness that confronts a specific cohort of candidates,” said spokesperson Elijah Mhlanga.

“The issue of load shedding and its possible negative impact on learner's results will be considered at the Umalusi standardisation process so as to ensure that no learner is disadvantaged due to load shedding.”

Eskom CEO Tshediso Matona said on Sunday that Eskom had informed the Department of Education to minimise the impact for matriculants.

‘Worst possible timing’

Fin24 readers were not impressed with the prospect of studying in the dark or being left without electricity during exams.

“Some of us are in the middle of writing university exams and now studying at night becomes a problem,” said Fin24 user Nikita Nankoo. “It's rather unfair, especially since we pay such high costs for the electricity.”

“We have paid for these so called new stations,” said Nankoo. “Where are they and how do you not see a crack of that magnitude beforehand? Clearly people aren't doing their jobs.”

Update from Eskom:


Fin24 user Adri van Zyl said she was preparing for a post-graduate exam. “We use microscopes and therefore can do absolutely nothing without power. This could not have come at a worse time.”

Fin24 user Lara Williams said her son was preparing for his matric finals when load shedding turned off their lights from 18:30 to 22:00 on Sunday. “Every night my son won't be able to study or have dinner so his focus has been ruined.”

Fin24 user Mark Churaman said his home in Fontainebleau, Randburg, endured 12 hours without electricity. “My kids and I are writing exams and my daughter writes this morning [Monday]. This is incompetence at the highest level and people should be fired from Eskom.”

As I study for my exam tomorrow... Load shedding in midrand.. Let there be light.

A photo posted by Ms SwARTboer (@swartboerjie) on


Fear not, says education department

The DBE and the provincial education departments would ensure that the negative impact of load shedding on candidates would be mitigated, said Mhlanga.

“Practical [NSC] examinations have already been written and none of the examinations written in this week will require electricity as part of the actual examination; however, where there may be delays due to train services etc., this will be accommodated by the examination centres.”

“According to the reports received by the department, the first week of the 2014 NSC Examinations progressed well around the country with no major incidents reported.

“Candidates last week began the journey to achieve their National Senior Certificate as a total of 550 127 full time and 138 533 part time candidates took their places to write English on day one.”

- Fin24.

- Follow Matthew on Twitter

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