Staff Reporter
At least 30 learners from the Free State were allowed to write the National Senior Certificate (NSC) examinations in a secure environment after testing positive for COVID-19.
National Assessment and Public Examinations chief director Rufus Poliah told a televised media briefing from Pretoria that about 715 learners across the country tested positive for the deadly coronavirus which causes COVID-19 but were allowed to write after being quarantined.
“All these learners were accommodated. They wrote their examinations in isolation,” said Poliah during the briefing which was also addressed by Basic Education Minister Angie Motshekga.
“This I think is a major achievement for the system. If those learners were not given the opportunity to write, they would have missed a year,” he added.
The Eastern Cape was the worst affected with 542 candidates testing positive followed by the Western Cape with 70 and Gauteng 49.
The North West, Mpumalanga, Northern Cape, KwaZulu-Natal and Limpopo had less than 10 cases each.
Motshekga described 2020 as a very difficult period after South Africa lost about 1 493 teachers to the pandemic.
“This year was a very difficult year for us and nobody could have anticipated the sudden change in the state of affairs,” the minister said.
“But eventually, we have come to the stage where we are . . . with the support of different people.”
She said the COVID-19 pandemic led to lost learning time as schools were forced to shut down in a bid to curb the spread of the disease.
When eventually opened several months later, major changes were introduced to the schooling environment, including social distancing protocols, the rotational attendance and the intermittent closure of schools due to increased localised infections.
Motshekga also announced that next year the basic education department will implement a three-year curriculum recovery plan to make up for lost time due to COVID-19.
The 2021 academic year will start on January 25 for teachers and January 27 for learners.
She said the recovery plan will be implemented from Grade R to Grade 12.