On Monday morning (31 October), Limpopo MEC for Basic Education Ms Mavhungu Lerule-Ramakhanya visited Louis Trichardt High School to monitor the start of the matric final examinations, which commenced with English First Additional Language and English Home Language Paper 1.
Limpopo has more than 140 000 learners writing matric this year. The Vhembe East District has the highest number of candidates, with more than 19 000 registered learners. Louis Trichardt High School alone has 137 learners who have registered to write their matric this year.
Addressing the learners at Hoërskool Louis Trichardt on Monday, MEC Ramakhanya cautioned them, saying: "Don't cheat, because you will be taken out of the examination room. Take time to read, but also take time to rest, because if you show up tired, you will not perform to the best of your ability. Do not take extra boosters as this will make you crash."
To ensure that learners produce good results, the Limpopo Department of Basic Education has been utilising a system since last year whereby subject advisors are deployed to assist both learners and teachers. Ms Khathutshelo Onica Dederen, Head of Department for the Limpopo Department of Education, explained: "In schools where learners are not performing very well, we deploy subject advisers who then assist both learners and teachers. Remember that, to a certain extent, learner performance is a reflection of teacher competence. We look at a subject and if the teacher is not good at certain topics in this subject, we send subject advisors to assist."
Louis Trichardt High School's principal, Mr Theo Muller, was confident that this year's pass rate would be around 99% as they had prepared the learners throughout the year. Asked what contingency plans were in place in case power cuts were experienced during examination time, Muller said the school had a generator in place.