The country has lost 1,493 teachers this year, some of them as a result of Covid-19, minister of basic education Angie Motshekga announced on Thursday during a media briefing on the state of readiness for the next academic year.
"Let us pause and thank our teachers, who worked tirelessly; some of them for seven days, sacrificing their precious time to ensure that teaching and learning continues, even under trying circumstances.
"Let me also acknowledge that along the way, we lost 1,493 teachers, some of them as a result of Covid-19, we lost workers in schools and officials in circuits, district offices, provincial departments; and who can forget that we also lost the MEC of Education in the Northern Cape, Mack Jack. May their souls rest in eternal peace. We will not forget them. We send our prayerful thoughts to all the families of the dearly departed," Motshekga said
“The year 2020 will be recorded in history as the most difficult year for the world and indeed for our country. We were forced to close schools indefinitely to save lives as part of the response to the coronavirus . When we eventually resolved to re-open schools in June, grade 12 learners had lost 47 days but through various interventions they were able to recover their curriculum,” she said.
There were also 715 matric candidates who tested positive for Covid-19, with Eastern Cape taking the lead with 542 candidates. All of them were accommodated and wrote their exams in isolation.
Motshekga said grade 12 examinations proceeded well until the leaking of some physical science and mathematics paper 2.
Last week the north Gauteng high court ruled that the two papers were not going to be re-written.
Motshekga said the department was considering approaching the court as some of the findings were discordant with applicable basic education legislative provisions and some findings were made against the department on issues that were not even raised in the court papers.
“The legal team is exploring avenues that are to be used to address some of the errors we have picked up in the judgment. The public must be reminded that any compromise of the NSC examination cannot only be justified through the number of the defaulting candidates but mainly through the extent of the compromise. We must state upfront that the compromise was not localized as was the case in 2016 but it was widespread as all provinces were implicated,” Motshekga said.
The marking of exams will commence on January 4 and on February 12 the department will present an irregularities’ report to Umalusi (Quality assurance body) and wait for them to make an announcement on the integrity, credibility and fairness of the 2020 matric exams.
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