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The Director-General supports the last push activities in provinces

The closure of schools for the Spring Break offered provinces an ideal opportunity to support learners with revision and consolidation activities (last push) through the “Spring Classes,” before the commencement of the 2017 National Senior Certificate (NSC) examination.

The Director-General of Basic Education, Mr HM Mweli, who is well known for “leading from the front” began his visit to the classes across the nine provinces. The purpose of the visit is to motivate learners to take advantage of the classes and buckle down to some serious studying so as to improve the quality of passes in the 2017 examination.

In responding to questions relating to the role and impact of these “Spring Classes, the Director-General said that “the Spring Classes are being institutionalised in provinces as one of two major consolidation of learning activities on the school calendar. While the organisation of the classes in each province may differ in the packaging of programmes, duration, number of subjects targeted etc they are essentially similar in outcomes. All the provinces are preparing learners towards improved examination results.

In encouraging learners to stay focused on their studies, Mr Mweli said that thorough preparation for the examination will decrease anxiety and raise confidence levels. It is important that learners remain calm, collected and this will only be possible if they leave no stone unturned in their quest for understanding concepts and content and knowing how to apply them in all subjects.

Some learners took the opportunity to confirm the value of the classes, citing that the classes provided them with space that is conducive to studying and that this augurs well for improved performance in the examinations.

Spring Camp Classes

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Eastern Cape
Free State
Gauteng
KwaZulu-Natal
Limpopo
Mpumalanga
Northern Cape
North West
Western Cape

More than 2500 learners attended classes in various streams to revise and consolidate work covered in the past 10 months. During the visit, Mr Mweli addressed the Grade 12 learners in various centres including Algoa College, Algoa Military Base, Danier Piennar in Port Elizabeth, St Colmcille and Humansdorp Secondary Schools in Uitenhage.

Attendance at the Spring Camps was based on the March and June learner results. Learners were grouped in terms of subject streams and level of performance to receive the assistance that they require. The Province used the Algoa Military Base to provide support to 300 underperforming learners combined with the progressed learners. The main aim of this camp was to consolidate learning of subject content towards improved levels of performance in the final National Senior Certificate (NSC) examinations. Read more...

Key provincial education officials in the Free State Province are working very hard to sustain the trend of excellent results this year. More than 4500 learners in the Lejweleputswa District attended Spring Classes during the September school holidays in preparation for the 2017 National Senior Certificate (NSC) Examination.

The Spring Camp Programme is an annual initiative hosted by the Provincial Department of Education during school holidays to help underperforming schools to improve their results. Basic Education Director-General, Mr Hubert Mathanzima Mweli visited the district on 03 October 2017 to encourage learners to prioritise their studies during their September school holidays. He also provided support to the Provincial officials who are responsible for coordinating the programme to reach out to targeted learners.Read more...

On 11 October 2017, Basic Education Director-General, Mr Hubert Mathanzima Mweli, visited seven Spring Camp Centres, in the Gauteng Province where he met with education stalwarts who were at work to prepare the Class of 2017 for the National Senior Certificate (NSC) examination. The centres included Leribisi Lodge in Pretoria East, Zonderwater in Cullinan, Lewende Waters Kempterien in Hammanskraal, Westridge in Roodepoort, Princess High in Roodepoort, Veritus Centre and Stable Inn in Springs.

Mr Mweli visited the province to monitor its Spring Camp classes and to assess the effectiveness. These camps are part of the last push programme designed to address identifiable learning gaps before learners sit for the final examination. Read more...

The streets of the Zululand District in the KwaZulu-Natal Province were filled with school children travelling to various Spring Camp Centres where the last push activities were hosted. In a few days all Grade 12 learners will be sitting for the National Senior Certificate (NSC) Examination and provinces are doing the best they can to prepare the sector as well as learners.

On 07 October 2017, Mr Mweli met with Zululand District officials to assess the conditions in which learners were taught and also to give them a word of encouragement as they made final preparations for the examination. More than 5000 learners in various centres showed up for this year’s Spring Camp classes catering for all high enrollment subjects namely Mathematics, Physical Science, Accounting, History, Geography, Business Studies and Economics.Read more...

Grade 12 learners in the Mopani District, Limpopo Province have dedicated 10 days of their school holidays to attend the Spring Camps in a bid to produce quality passes during the 2017 National Senior Certificate (NSC) Examination. On 30 September 2017, the Basic Education Director-General, Mr Hubert Mathanzima Mweli, visited the district to monitor the progress of the Spring Camps being conducted as part of the provincial last push intervention programme.

During the visit, the Director-General visited five centres namely Seboye Secondary School, Mafutsane Secondary School, and Mabushe High School in Thabina area. Mr Mweli further visited Bokgaga and Burgersdorp Secondary Schools in the Shiluvana area. Read more...

The September school holidays presented teachers in Bohlabela District, in the Mpumalanga Province with quality time to teach as learners were preparing for the final year examinations. On 05 October 2017, Basic Education Director- General, Mr Hubert Mathanzima Mweli, visited the province, to urge learners to study hard and to ensure that Spring Camp classes assist them with revision ahead of their final year examination.

Having obtained position four in the 2016 National Senior Certificate (NSC) examination results, Mpumalanga Province established last push activities such as Saturday classes, afternoon studies and Spring Camp Programme to support its Class of 2017 in achieving more bachelors passes this year.Read more...

The Basic Education Director-General, Mr Hubert Mathanzima Mweli conducted oversight visits to the Northern Cape Spring Camp centres in Upington on 29 September 2017 as well as Kimberly and Kuruman on 01 October 2017 to motivate learners as they were making their final preparations for the 2017 National Senior Certificate (NSC) Examinations. Due to the demands of the New Criteria of Inclusive Basket, provinces were urged to strive to achieve a high number of bachelor passes as well as sustaining the trend of the throughput rate in all Grades.

The province had put several measures in place to prepare learners for the 2017 NSC Examination. Several districts have embarked on the Spring Camps aimed at improving learning outcomes amongst progressed and borderline learners in public schools. The Spring Camps, which are conducted in all five districts namely, Frances Baard, John Taolo Gaetsewe, Pixley ka Seme, Manakwa and ZF Mgcawu Districts are organised to empower learners with content knowledge, particularly in high enrolment subjects such as Physical Science, Mathematics Literacy, Accounting, Life Sciences, Geography, Mathematics and Business Studies.Read more...

Basic Education Director-General, Mr Hubert Mathanzima Mweli travelled around Bojanala District, in the North West Province encouraging learners to set high targets as they sit for the National Senior Certificate (NSC) Examination on 16 October 2017 for some subjects and from 23 October 2017 for the rest of the subjects. Mr Mweli visited the Province on 07 October 2017, to meet with district officials with the intention to monitor their last push activities and to assess if the Spring Camp Programme is being implemented effectively.

It has been proven that the engagement meetings organised by the Director-General in provinces in the past two terms are a constructive mechanism capable of moving the Education Sector towards achieving goals set out in the National Development Plan.Read more...

The Western Cape Province has confirmed that its systems are ready to administer the 2017 NSC Examination. More than 75 high schools in Cape Town and surrounding areas were targeted to participate in the last push programme aimed at encouraging learners to work hard and obtain quality results this year.

As one of the most critical initiatives of the education sector, the Spring Camp Classes were initiated to assist the Class of the 2017 with examination tips and revision of the syllabus before the final year examinations commenced. The Province has also carefully selected tutors who specialize in Mathematics, Life Science and Mathematics Literacy to assist learners during this period.Read more...