Pretoria - Eesa Omar, 18, could not wait to finish matric and get married today. Others had holiday and other plans.
Omar said he and his fiancee had been planning the wedding since June, and family and friends had made all the arrangements to be in Joburg for her big day.
But then came the unexpected news of a matric rewrite, and threw her plans out the window. He is one of the matrics to file an affidavit in support of the case against the Department of Basic Education over the proposed rewrite of Maths and Physical Sciences paper 2 next week.
Omar said he had expected to do well in the two papers because of the preparation work, and did not see why he should be “punished” with a rewrite as he had nothing to do with the exam leak and did not have sight of the papers in advance.
Another matric, Pheelo Moeketsi, said in her affidavit that she came from a disadvantaged background, where had been very hard to study.
They have a lack of water and sanitation and had done most of her studying at school where she had access to these facilities.
She was happy when the exams were finished, and hoped to do well, she said. “Little did I know the stress was not over yet.
“I was demoralised and depressed,” she said of the announcement.
“If there is to be a rewrite, people like me, living under difficult circumstances, must receive notice in advance. I must find a place to study and prepare,” she said.
339 000 learners sat Maths 2 and 282 000 the chemistry paper. Many said they had handed in their textbooks and thrown out their notes after a tough year.
They also mentioned the risk of contracting Covid-19 if they had to go back to an exam hall.
They now expected their papers to be marked, to get the results and move on with their lives.
Pretoria News