Security tight for matric 2003
2003-09-29 14:36
Nelspruit - Mpumalanga schools with high crime rates will be under tight security during the matric examinations that start next Monday.
Provincial education spokesperson Thomas Msiza said police would operate roadblocks around the schools, escort vehicles carrying exam question papers and maintain general visibility.
"The police will help us to run crime-free exams," said Msiza on Monday. "We've targeted schools where we've had criminal incidents."
The affected schools are in KaNyamazane near Nelspruit, Dennilton, Breyten and Tweefontein in KwaMhlanga.
Education MEC Craig Padayachee has announced that 57 926 candidates have registered to sit for the matric exams this year.
Of these, 40 802 are full-time candidates and the remaining 17 124 are part-time candidates.
Padayachee said his department had "turned the corner" regarding matric results after improving the pass rate by 9% last year. The overall pass rate was 56%.
This year's exams end on November 19 and 2 687 markers will handle papers between November 23 and December 6.
The results will be released on December 30.
Padayachee said the department had undertaken serious interventions since last year to improve results.
These interventions included meeting senior circuit managers, as well as schools that produced less than a 20% pass rate last year.
Regular school visits are also held through the provincial cabinet's outreach programmes, while the department has provided additional resources to schools.
"Given that, by and large, we've had a crisis-free year, and that (the intervention) programmes... were effectively implemented, we can look forward to greater improvement in the overall pass rate this year," he said.
He said better results were also expected in subjects like maths, science and technology.
Textbooks and stationery already had been delivered to schools for next year, and Padayachee urged parents to register their children in October for school for next year.