Seven Grade 12 pupils at a private school in Mthatha do not know if they will be allowed to write their final exams because they have yet to receive their examination numbers.
The pupils were only allowed inside the examination venue for Tuesday’s English paper one exam after an hour.
And now, they are not sure whether they will be allowed to write the maths exam on Friday. Parents Nolundi Matye and Khuselwa Nqeketo are up in arms with Umtata College of Maths, Science and Commerce, saying that when they inquired why their children did not have exam numbers, they were sent from pillar to post.
“That school is expensive and we work hard to ensure that the children’s school fees are paid and their futures are secure.
“I sell fruit when the elderly get their pensions and on other days of the month I am at home,” said Matye, adding that the school fees were R1,500 per month.
Nqeketo said she had been trying to get answers from the school since Monday.
“I spoke to the principal and the director of the school and they could not even give me the exam venue.
“They could not answer why the children did not have exam numbers or timetables. They just said there must be a mistake in Bhisho.
“I am angry. They are operating like a fly-by-night school.
“They are carrying on like they are doing us a favour when we are paying parents and this is the future of our children that they are gambling with,” Nqeketo said.
The school principal, who only identified herself as Miss Moyo, told the Dispatch she did not want to comment on the issue, while the director of the school could not be reached.
Attempts to get comment from the Independent Examinations Board (IEC) were unsuccessful on Thursday as the Daily Dispatch was told that only the CEO, Anne Oberholzer, had the mandate to speak to the media and that she was not available at the office.
The IEB is an independent assessment agency which offers examinations for client schools, mostly private schools.
Provincial education spokesperson Malibongwe Mtima confirmed that the school did not fall under the department...