While the Eastern Cape provincial education department says it will be firing from all cylinders when the National Senior Certificate exams begin on Monday, Grahamstown learners feel that they could have been better prepared for their "biggest exams ever".
While the Eastern Cape provincial education department says it will be firing from all cylinders when the National Senior Certificate exams begin on Monday, Grahamstown learners feel that they could have been better prepared for their "biggest exams ever".
Nombulelo matric candidate Noluvuyo Shwempe will start writing on Tuesday and she expects to do well. "You can never be ready, but then I could say 80% ready cause you can never be 100% ready for final exams, cause it's like the biggest exams ever."
She added that the preliminary exams were difficult but fine for those who studied well. Despite obtaining "acceptable" grades on the exam, Shwempe said that she plans to improve her overall performance and obtain distinctions.
Another Nombulelo candidate Fundiswa Sandi says she's quite ready to start her exams on Thursday. She said she was not happy with her results for the preliminary exams. "We started writing with Accounting and we were not ready on that Tuesday, as we were told that we were not going to write trial exams," she said.
Meanwhile, Benjamin Mahlasela High School principal Sandile Dude said his school is ready for the exams and that its seven candidates have already received their admission letters. “We have made preparations, considering the time taken from the learners by the World Cup and the unfortunate teachers' strike but when the teachers came back they tried their best and did everything they could and now it's up to the learners. And I'm hopeful that the results will be good.”
He added that the school will provide additional support to the candidates.“We will open the school so that they can come and study, in fact there are learners who will be starting to study at school from today on," Dude explained. "I've given them the keys they will open and close the gate."
"In spite of the challenges that were as a result of the public sector strike, the province is administratively and logistically ready to conduct credible examinations for 2010," said education department spokesperson Loyiso Pulumani. "All the necessary security measures are in place, all the municipalities are ready to assist in cases of adverse weather conditions and any other emergencies that may emerge in their areas."
