The practice of publishing the matric results in the newspapers has become part of the South African tradition with the release of the results in January every year. The original reason for this practice is to assist learners who are on vacation away from their homes and are unable to get to their respective schools to collect their results.
The DBE is aware of the adverse effect of this practice and therefore in the last few years, the results are first released at the school at 08:00 in the morning and thereafter the Newspapers are allowed to release the results. The results are made available to the learners, at school, under the supervision of the school principal.
The DBE is aware that learners that have performed poorly may respond negatively to the results, and therefore educators are on standby to counsel the learners. This practice of releasing the results in the Newspapers extends beyond the last 30 years.
The DBE is always responsive to issues raised by members of the public and our social partners. This matter will be discussed at a meeting of the examination representatives from each of the provinces and other key stakeholders, to be held on 4 and 5 October 2011 and a recommendation will be made to the Director General and the Minister, in this regard.
Any practice that places the lives of our valuable charges at risk will be reviewed. Therefore, the DBE will explore this concern more intensely and ensure that the best option is followed.
It needs to be noted that the DBE has strict embargoes on the release of results by the media so as to ensure that candidates are first presented with their results by the school. However, over the last few years a few of the media houses have breached the embargoes and this has compromised the official release of the results by the school principal.
Enquiries: Panyaza Lesufi, Ministerial Spokesperson 072 148 9575