Basic Education Director-General, Mr Mathanzima Mweli, last week, commenced with his monitoring and oversight visits to marking centres. The NSC examination concluded this week, however, a few papers such as Computer Applications Technology (CAT) must be rewritten where learners experienced technological challenges whilst saving their work which went missing, as well as papers where learners were prevented from writing due to circumstances beyond their control.
The pre-marking process commenced on 15 November with nine marking centres, five in Gauteng, three in Limpopo and one in the Mpumalanga Province. All the centres where marking has commenced have been visited.
“We are receiving daily updates of these activities, which are analysed for the necessary support to be provided across the various provinces. We will also be continuing with our daily 06:00 meetings as we monitor the marking centres until we finish the marking process and commence with the standardisation meetings,” Mr Mweli said.
As from 28 November, marking will commence in all earnest in 184 marking centres. The DBE will be continuing with the monitoring and oversight in support of these marking centres. The focus will be on the wellness of all of those who are involved in marking to ensure conducive environments for them to complete the work, making sure that facilities are appropriate, but also providing security for their vehicles and belongings. Oversight visits by the Director-General reinforce confidence in compliance, integrity, and national quality-assurance standards. Markers are encouraged to uphold the highest standards of fairness, accuracy, and ethical conduct whilst maintaining healthy routines that support sustained focus and precision.
DG Mweli added that “standardisation is scheduled for 22 December, but before then we will also be engaging in pre-standardisation meetings with individual provinces where experts will be presented with the papers for their analysis on how they have encountered the papers and juxtaposing that with how learners have encountered the papers, looking at areas of unfairness, which will be presented to Umalusi on 22 December for their consideration”.
The highlight of the NSC examination process remains the Minister’s official announcement of the national results at the Mosaic Church in the Gauteng Province on 12 January 2026, whilst MECs across the various provinces will be releasing their results on the following day, 13 January 2026.