2005 matric 'credible, fair'
2005-12-29 14:27
Cape Town - Unlike last year when irregularities in Mpumalanga marred the end-of-year results, the 2005 matric examinations were declared credible, fair and reliable.
Education director-general Duncan Hindle said in a briefing at parliament on Thursday: "This year, there has been an exceptionally good management of these examinations.
"There have been no leakages or any other kind of incident which would suggest compromising the integrity of the examinations."
This year, a national examination irregularities committee had been established to set guidelines in dealing with irregularities.
With better monitoring, incidents that were reported were better managed.
"In every case, those irregularities (reported by provincial education departments) have been effectively dealt with and the necessary actions have been taken," said Hindle.
Bomb threats, weather caused snags
In some instances, sanctions were applied to pupils who were caught with crib notes, and officials for administrative errors.
He said that while some of the incidents could be construed as fraud, others were beyond the department's control.
Two of them involved the weather, with heavy rains in one case preventing pupils in Idutywa, Eastern Cape, from getting their papers in time.
In Gauteng and the Northern Cape, bomb threats were received at exam venues, "no doubt" from pupils who did not feel adequately prepared and hoped for postponement, suggested Hindle.
This year's national matric pass rate stood at 68.3%, with 51.3% passing without an endorsement and 17% with endorsement.
The total number of pupils who passed increased from 305 774 last year to 347 184 in 2005, with the number of passes with endorsement increasing in the same period from 85 117 to 86 531.
A total of 533 364 full-time candidates enrolled for the senior certificate examination compared to 494 296 last year, while part-time enrolment was constant at 201 721.
The oldest candidate to write was Thimhamba Chauke, 84, of Gauteng.
Maths, science numbers up
A total of 1 456 question papers was set by a panel of 1 056 examiners and moderated by 554 internal moderators.
Hindle said the overall numbers who wrote the examination increased by 59 000 pupils between 2001 and 2005.
Encouragingly, the numbers writing mathematics HG and physical science HG, increased by 3 949 and 6 055 respectively.
Earlier, the National Professional Teachers' Union (Naptosa) expressed displeasure with the national pass rate, which it said marked a 2.4% drop on last year's figure of 70.7%.
- SAPA