The last leg of high school for thousands of matriculants kicked off smoothly at 9am yesterday as they wrote their first final exam.
All pupils wrote the first paper in English home language, first additional language and second additional language at the two-hour morning session, while other scholars also wrote their consumer studies theory examination at 2pm.
The pupils complained about a reduction in writing time, verbose and even “bombastic” language used by exam setters, and some vague questions.
But most felt they did well enough.
Provincial department of education acting director of communications Loyiso Pulumani said they would be vigilant throughout the exam period.
“There hasn’t been any irregularity reported so far in any of our centres. Reports suggest a hassle- free start to our Grade 12 examination season.
“We will continue to uphold the highest level of vigilance and quality monitoring throughout this crucial period to ensure that we retain the highest standard possible.”
Scholars around East London agreed that a 30-minute reduction of writing time had caused them to scribble more hastily.
Shannon Kairuz from Clarendon Girls High said she felt pressed for time as she wrote her home language paper.
“I couldn’t really think properly. It is so easy to make mistakes when you don’t have enough time to reflect on what you have written.”
Kairuz and her classmate Anathi Zweni said they battled to understand how the paper was written.
Siphelele Tyiki from Mzomhle High, who wrote the first additional language paper, said they had not been warned that the writing time had been cut to only two hours.
“We were not notified of the change and it caused us to panic because even the previous question papers stipulated two hours and 30 minutes, so we were not prepared for the minimal time.
“Nonetheless we all managed to complete it and I am confident that I did very well because I studied thoroughly.”
Beaconhurst School pupil Cikizwa Kentane said she was very comfortable with the paper although she didn’t get to finish it. “There was a kind of a glitch with the time because we were only allocated two hours. Other than that everything was on point.”
Stirling High matric Sinokuhle Dayiman, and Lonwabo Mbekela from Greenpoint High, who both wrote the home language examination, felt the words used in the language paper were “bombastic”.
“The paper was extremely long although there was minimal time to write and there was a lot of verbosity and big words. But for me it was more than okay,” said Dayimani.
Mbelekela said the big words hindered his understanding of some of the sentences.
“I responded in a way I thought I could understand, because I didn’t want to leave any empty spaces.”
Cayleigh Isaacs from Clarendon struggled with some questions.
“The questions weren’t clear enough and were very vague. They were completely different to exam papers from previous years. The last question was the worst.” — mbalit@dispatch.co.za
Good start to matric finals
All pupils wrote the first paper in English home language, first additional language and second additional language at the two-hour morning session, while other scholars also wrote their consumer studies theory examination at 2pm.
The pupils complained about a reduction in writing time, verbose and even “bombastic” language used by exam setters, and some vague questions.
But most felt they did well enough.
Provincial department of education acting director of communications Loyiso Pulumani said they would be vigilant throughout the exam period.
“There hasn’t been any irregularity reported so far in any of our centres. Reports suggest a hassle- free start to our Grade 12 examination season.
“We will continue to uphold the highest level of vigilance and quality monitoring throughout this crucial period to ensure that we retain the highest standard possible.”
Scholars around East London agreed that a 30-minute reduction of writing time had caused them to scribble more hastily.
Shannon Kairuz from Clarendon Girls High said she felt pressed for time as she wrote her home language paper.
“I couldn’t really think properly. It is so easy to make mistakes when you don’t have enough time to reflect on what you have written.”
Kairuz and her classmate Anathi Zweni said they battled to understand how the paper was written.
Siphelele Tyiki from Mzomhle High, who wrote the first additional language paper, said they had not been warned that the writing time had been cut to only two hours.
“We were not notified of the change and it caused us to panic because even the previous question papers stipulated two hours and 30 minutes, so we were not prepared for the minimal time.
“Nonetheless we all managed to complete it and I am confident that I did very well because I studied thoroughly.”
Beaconhurst School pupil Cikizwa Kentane said she was very comfortable with the paper although she didn’t get to finish it. “There was a kind of a glitch with the time because we were only allocated two hours. Other than that everything was on point.”
Stirling High matric Sinokuhle Dayiman, and Lonwabo Mbekela from Greenpoint High, who both wrote the home language examination, felt the words used in the language paper were “bombastic”.
“The paper was extremely long although there was minimal time to write and there was a lot of verbosity and big words. But for me it was more than okay,” said Dayimani.
Mbelekela said the big words hindered his understanding of some of the sentences.
“I responded in a way I thought I could understand, because I didn’t want to leave any empty spaces.”
Cayleigh Isaacs from Clarendon struggled with some questions.
“The questions weren’t clear enough and were very vague. They were completely different to exam papers from previous years. The last question was the worst.” — mbalit@dispatch.co.za
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