Johannesburg - The EFF has criticised the Department of Basic Education for the delayed release of matric examination results, which they say has ripple effects on the transition of learners to the post-secondary and training sectors.
The party further revealed that the delay also affects planning by families who are unable to proceed with any logistical arrangements relating to their children's post-matriculant stories.
"Year after year, the Department of Basic Education finds ways to exhibit incompetence when it relates to matriculants and the handling of the process in its entirety. If it's not scandals, such as the leaking of exam papers, which results in cheating or appalling results in schools that perennially under perform with no intervention, it is a blatant failure to synchronise systems to ensure that the results of learners are released before the academic year begins in primary and high schools."
The party says the delay has an added effect on the hamstrung households that have to manage the high cost of living.
"The delay has an added impact on already financially hamstrung families who have to manage the high cost of living while also considering the costs of travel that relate to their children's ongoing to universities, universities of technology, and TVET colleges. The futures of thousands of young people are on hold as they do not know whether they have qualified for the various streams of study they may have applied for, creating added and unnecessary anxiety."
"Furthermore, many students from underprivileged backgrounds have numerous socio-economic reasons to be able to apply for education at institutions of higher learning, and as a result, it will require time to seek out an appropriate institution of higher learning and source funding for their studies. The delay in the release of the examination results undercuts their ability to undertake these actions."
"The EFF calls for the Department of Basic Education, which is led by an ancestor who has retained the post for over a decade, to desist from jeopardising the lives of young people with their blatant incompetence. It is unjustifiable that an examination process that concluded on December 7, 2022, has not yielded results to date," concluded the party.
The Star