Statement by Yousuf Gabru, MEC for Education in the Western Cape

Matric candidates will enter the final straight next week as they prepare for the 2008 National Senior Certificate exams, which start on Wednesday, 29 October.

Many candidates have sacrificed their September school holiday this week to prepare for the exams at special Spring Schools organised by the Western Cape Education Department (WCED).

The WCED has organised Spring Schools at 60 venues throughout the province, covering all the major matric subjects.

The venues include 51 schools taking part in the National Strategy for Learner Achievement (NSLA) that is supporting schools that achieved a pass rate of less than 60% in last year's matric exams.

The 2008 NSC exams will mark a major milestone for education in South Africa when candidates write the National Senior Certificate (NSC) examinations for the first time.

We wish every candidate every success as they prepare for these exams. The exams mark the culmination of at least 12 years of study for each candidate and the moment of transition to higher education, the world of work and adult life.

These are important exams, so we encourage every candidate to spend the next few weeks preparing carefully. There is plenty of time for revision, which could make all the difference to final results.

A total of 45 470 candidates have registered for the 2008 exams. They represent the first cohort of learners who will be completing the NSC programme in schools, which covers Grades 10, 11 and 12.

They began the three-year programme in 2006 when they entered Grade 10, and continued in Grade 11 in 2007.

Part-time candidates cannot register for the NSC exams this year unless they have completed the three-year NSC programme.

However, part-time candidates can continue writing mid-year matric exams based on the old matric curriculum until 2011, so long as they registered for and wrote matric exams before 2008. The next mid-year exams will be held in May and June 2009, 2010 and 2011.

Schools and the WCED have been preparing for the introduction of the NSC curriculum in schools and for these exams for the past six years. We have every confidence that the class of 2008 will do us proud.

We are deeply grateful to our teachers who have put in many extra hours to support our learners. These include teachers who have given up their July and September holidays to teach at our Winter and Spring schools.

The last school day for this year's matrics will be Friday, 24 October.

The exams will start on Wednesday, 29 October, with papers for German, Hebrew and Portuguese. The final exams will take place on Wednesday, 3 December, with Mathematics Paper 3 and Electrical Technology.

Candidates must be available until the last school day on Friday, 5 December, in case any exam must be rescheduled. The results will be announced on Thursday, 30 December.