EXEMPTION of schools from load shedding before the much anticipated National Senior Certificate (NSC) exams is not on the table for the Department of Basic Education.
This is according to the Basic Education Minister Angie Motshekga, who was speaking before her address on the key developments in the basic education sector on Sunday, 1 October.
With load shedding remaining a pressing issue in the country, many question whether or not schools will be exempted before the exams, set to begin on 30 October until 5 December.
But Motshekga said this is not on the table as schools fall under a network within the community, making it hard for it to be exempted.
“So to exempt a school from a township which is part of the network seemed like a difficult exercise because of the location of the school,” she said.
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While she noted boarding schools that exist within communities, Motshekga said as a department they have tried to assist these schools with generators as they have a responsibility to cater for pupils, including cooking for them.
The minister said they would continue to monitor the situation and in instances where subjects are disrupted by load shedding like Computer Applications Technology (CAT), they will liaise with the appropriate entities.
Motshekga said because exams don't take longer than three hours, they will be able to work around the load shedding schedule.
“We are monitoring load shedding in terms of the quality of the paper we right. I have said this since last year and I say it again that we are lucky as a sector that we operate during the day.
“It's not like a hospital where people will die if there are no ventilators functioning. We can operate in most instances, even when there are no lights,” she said.
