SURPRISE GOLELA UPDATES

By: Surprise Golela Basic education minister Angie Motshekga has announced that matric pupils will not rewrite the leaked Maths and Physics Paper 2 exams.   This is in line with the high court in Pretoria’s ruling. The Council of Education (CEM), which consists of the minister and deputy minister of basic education and all provincial education MECs has agreed with the high court in Pretoria’s ruling. On Friday, the court ruled that the rewrite decision was unlawful, irregular and should be set aside. Motshekga says pupils, teachers and parents should take solace in the CEM’s decision. In a statement released on Saturday, the department of education says: “CEM agreed that the class of 2020 has been confronted by many challenges brought about by the Covid-19 pandemic and it would therefore be unfair to further subject the class of 2020, their teachers and parents to further uncertainties and exacerbate the anxieties they currently face," Concerns over judgement While the CEM agrees ...

 -BY: Surprise Golela The class of 2020 is expected to sit for their final exams from November 5. The Minister of Basic Education addressed the media this morning on key developments in the basic education sector relating to Covid-19 level 1 regulations. “Today, we launch the official countdown to the examinations. It is now 34 days to the start of the NSC examinations for the matric class of 2020,” said Motshekga. The minister appealed with parents, guardians, and communities to rally behind all the candidates who will be writing their final exams this year. She added and said this is an extraordinary time for them (class of 2020) and all of us, but they need the support more. This year more than 1 million matriculants are expected to write their final exams next month, which is said to be the biggest group in the history of basic education department. “A total of 1 058, 699 candidates will sit for the examinations and we certainly have never had to manage a number that ...

-BY: Surprise Golela   During a media brief this morning the Basic Education Minister Angie Motshekga announced that the 2021 academic year will officially start on 25 January. “First, let me confirm that schools will reopen on 25 January 2021,” said Motshekga. She said the school calendar will be gazetted tomorrow Friday, 2 October after that it will be made public. The Minister said they are working hard to plan the 2021 academic year taking into consideration the challenges the sector and the whole country faced this year. “ We are fully aware that the country need the school   calendar for effective planning purpose, we have worked hard to ensure it is done properly taking into account the disruptions that have occurred in 2020,” said Motshekga. The Minister’s briefing provided an update on key developments in the Basic Education sector relating to Covid-19 level 1 restrictions. Motshekga said schools will have to carry over some of this year’s curriculum work into...

By: Surprise Golela   The Department of Basic Education has cancelled this year’s final examinations for grade 10 and 11 pupils and the examination will be replaced with controlled tests. In line with the revised annual teaching plans and the time spent on teaching and learning, the promotion requirements for 2020 academic year have been revised. Grade 10’s will sit for an hour duration paper while Grade 11 will sit for two hours long papers. The pupils will write tests which are set by their schools, this is because the common tests which are always set by the provinces will not be set this year. The circular by the Department of Basic Education states that control tests should be set only on the content that was taught to pupils. “The controlled test must cover portion of the curriculum taught preferably work covered in all terms, wherever possible,” The circular further states that the tests must be administered under controlled conditions. “Fundamental subject...

By: Surprise Golela   The Department of Basic Education has released the final combined matric examination time-table. Early this year the Department postponed the writing of the National Senior Certificate and the Senior Certificate examinations, which were meant to be written by more than 350 000 part-time candidates in May and June this year due to COVID-19. The Combined June and November examinations will officially commence on Thursday,  November 20-20, and end on Tuesday, 15 December 2020. The department says the late commencement of the final Grade 12 examinations will allow schools and learners adequate time to cover the curriculum and also ensure that ample time is allocated for revision of the syllabus. This year over 1,1 Million candidates are expected to sit for the 2020 matric exams. The Education Dept said all registered candidates will receive an admission letter, by end of September 2020. The Life Orientation (LO) common Assessment task will be written on Monda...

BY: Surprise Golela Basic Education Minister Angie Motshekga The Minister of Basic Education Angie Motshekga has welcomed the cabinet's decision to close all public schools for four weeks. In his address last night President Cyril Ramaphosa announced the closure of all public schools for the next four weeks. Ramaphosa said that schools will close from Monday 24 July and reopen again on 24 August 2020. Motshekga said that the 4 weeks break will allow schools to prepare for the return of more grades to schools later in August. Schools across the country reopened on 8 June for only Grade 7 and 12 pupils after they were closed in March to curb the spread of COVID-19 under lockdown level 5. The decision to close schools now comes as the country records more than 408 000 COVID-19 cases, which puts our country to be number 1 in Africa and to be in the top 5 worst affected country in the whole world. Grade 12 learners will reopen schools on 3 August after an only one-week break while Grade...

By: Surprise Golela The Minister of Basic Education, Angie Motshekga has on Wednesday announced that as per schedule more grades will be expected to return to schools on this 6 July. Minister of Basic Education Angie Motshekga. Early this month we saw the reopening of schools across the country taking place after the closure of schools for almost two months. Grade 7 and 12 pupils were the first group of learners to go back to schools as part of the department's plan to save 2020 academic year. As schools prepared to welcome more pupils the Basic Education Minister has put emphasis on the safety of learners. “We will continue to work hard in schools to make sure we protect our learners, teachers and employees within schools ,” Motshekga said.   The Minister has also urged parents to refrain from visiting schools as she says that also increases the risk of more infections. The Grades that are now going to join Grade 7 and 12 pupils in schools are: ·    ...

By : Surprise Golela   The Educators Union of South Africa is calling on the President of South Africa to fire the Minister of Basic Education Angie Motshekga. The union has given the president a period of two months to make the call. This follows a spike in COVID-19 cases since schools reopened. “In just the first three days of school reopening we have seen over 2,000 learners and teachers testing positive COVID-19 and a subsequent closure of more than 100 schools across the country” said the Union in a statement. The Union has tried to stop the decision to reopen schools by seeking an urgent interdict against the reopening of schools from the Pretoria High Court. The High Court has ruled in favor of the Department of Basic Education.  The Union said that in the 10 years of Angie Motshekga being in the office as the Minister of Basic Education she has failed to address many issues that lenders are faced with in schools. The Union says they are aware of many ineq...

The ONE MOVEMENT SOUTH AFRICA which is led by the former Democratic Alliance leader Mmusi Maimane has today taken the Department of Basic Education to court to stop the reopening of schools that are scheduled for next week Monday for grade 7 and 12 pupils. The Constitutional Court of South Africa has all of that the application for direct access to the Court on an urgent basis is dismissed. which left the Department of basic education with another victory over the reopening of schools. Although the Constitutional Court has dismissed the application to block the reopening of schools on the 8 June Mmusi Maimane says it did not mean a loss for his organization and that they could approach a lower Court to hear the matter. The former democratic alliance leader says the reason behind the Court application is the unreadiness of schools and the safety of learners. He insists that schools will not be ready to reopen next week as the Minister of Basic Education has announced. Maimane is not the...

South Africa will by Thursday know what the plans by the Department of Basic education are regarding the reopening of schools during the level 4 of the national lockdown. The Basic education department has announced that Minister Angie Motshekga will hold a press briefing on Thursday to explain the plans.  image from: https://cdn.pixabay.com/photo/2014/01/31/18/08/class-255620_960_720.jpg On Monday the Minister Angie Motshekga held several meetings with Education MEC’s, teachers’ unions, the school Governing Body Association and the SA principals’ Association. The Minister today was to meet with national command council, and she will on Wednesday meet with cabinet.   The Basic Education Spokesperson Elijah Mhlanga said that at the cabinet meeting it is expected that the recovery plan of the education sector will also be discussed. Motshekga would on Thursday then reveal the final dates of schools reopening and the detailed plans for the phased approach to the pos...

Matriculants are writing their final examinations and we all know that this is a very stressful time of the year to them. It is not only Matriculants who are faced with this situation but also many other students all over the country who are in universities and colleges. The pressure to pass can be overwhelming as extra attention it is really placed on them, be it from government, family, community  and even peers.  This is that time of the year where we are all tested on what we have been doing throughout the year. This season can bring on levels of stress and burnout that can hinder your studies. We are all stressed by these exams in different ways. It is important to manage this stress and find little ways to help you eliminate the risk of burnout. 2019 hasn't been an easy year for all of us, from learners in lower grades like grade 1 where one of them were raped, young children not making it back from schools, learners in upper grades fighting and stabbing each othe...