Education MEC Matome Chiloane said the department has activated 16 new exam centres, bringing the total to 1,035, at which security mechanisms to mitigate leaking of question papers are in force.
The department has also appointed service providers to augment security in school districts.
“These include armed escorts, response units, and CCTV cameras for the duration of the examinations,” Chiloane said.
Marking of the NSC scripts is scheduled to take place in two stages across 18 marking centres from November 14 to 25 and December 1 to 16.
Providing an update on the placement of pupils in grades 1 and 8 at government schools next year, Chiloane said 199,492 (61.22%) of applicants have been placed so far.
He said 46,386 applicants who received placement offers had not accepted them and 10,122 applicants had only provisionally accepted their offers. They would be subjected to auto-placements.
The MEC said the department is releasing placement offers daily and working tirelessly to assist unplaced applicants: 53,960 for the younger pupils and 72,406 in the higher grade.
According to Chiloane, 72 primary schools and 31 secondary schools reached full capacity.
“This means 103 schools have no more space to accommodate further applicants. Unplaced applicants who cannot be accommodated at these schools will be transferred to the next closest school with available space.”
TimesLIVE
Shonisani Tshikalange
www.timeslive.co.za
