DARK days will stay with the class of 2023 as they brace their studies through load shedding.
Electricity Minister Kgosientsho Ramokgopa has maintained that it won’t be possible to exempt all schools from blackouts.
This comes as the minister issued an update on the energy action plan as rolling blackouts make a comeback.
On Sunday, 5 November, Ramokgopa said it would be difficult to exempt schools from rolling blackouts due to the geographic locations of the schools.
“If you were to map the geographic locations of these schools, you would find that the highest density of these schools are located in a significant amount of load where there are major industries. These schools share some of the distribution infrastructure with these energy-intensive users."
“Unfortunately, it will not be possible to exempt these schools, and I don’t want to create the impression that it is possible,” he said, sealing off Basic Education Minister Angie Motshekga's words when she said exempting schools from load shedding was not on the table.
She emphasised this 28 days before grade 12s kicked off the National Senior Certificate (NSC) exams.
Grade 12 pupils began their final exams just as Eskom implemented rolling blackouts.
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This did not land well with many pupils from Ferndale High School in Randburg, who expressed their challenges to Daily Sun.
“I had no choice but to take all my books and study outside. Natural light is the only way. But once the sun sets, I’m back indoors looking for candles to get through my studies," Boikanyo Monama from Roodepoort said.
“It's not easy studying for our exams during load shedding. These blackouts have been around for a long time. I choose not to think about it because there is nothing I can do."
She said that because they are in a technical school, some of their practices require electricity. When there are blackouts, either they are provided with a new day to practice, or they must clear their schedule to get it done.
Another pupil who has been inconvenienced by load shedding is Sandile Ndhlovu from Randburg, who had to find an alternative place to study.
Sizwe Mahlangu from Soweto said load shedding during exams is unfair.
