South Africa's national education quality assurance body, Umalusi, has officially approved the release of the November 2024 National Senior Certificate (NSC) results, confirming that the examination process has met the required standards across all qualifications.
The highly anticipated results are set to be unveiled later on Monday, bringing a sense of excitement and anticipation to thousands of learners across the country.
Umalusi Council chairperson, Professor Yunus Ballim, detailed the rigorous quality assurance processes that paved the way for the approval of this year’s results.
"The approval statements bring together decisions taken after careful consideration of available evidence by various role players at different stages of Umalusi’s quality assurance cycle," Ballim said.
"EXCO’s approval for the release of candidates’ results is confirmation that the assessment leading to certification in schools, adult education centres, and technical and vocational education and training colleges was of the required standard across all qualifications for all examinations conducted in this period under review."
Central to the approval process is the meticulous "standardisation of the examination results by the Assessment Standards Committee (ASC) of Umalusi Council."
Ballim explained that the ASC carefully analysed the results for each of the more than 500 subjects, covering multiple assessment bodies, to ensure consistency and fairness.
"The process is detailed and rigorous and is guided by standardisation principles, which are supported by numerical evidence and narrative reports," Ballim said.
Ballim further underscored that Umalusi is pleased to report that no irregularities had marred the integrity of the examinations.
"Umalusi is extremely pleased that there were no detected cases of paper leakages, or other irregularities that could have compromised the overall credibility and integrity of the examinations," he said.
He also expressed gratitude to all examining bodies and associated role players, including the State Security Agency, for their commitment to securing the examination papers.
While Umalusi acknowledged the successes of the Class of 2024, Ballim took a moment to address those learners who did not achieve their desired results.
"Umalusi congratulates the Class of 2024, who have succeeded in the examinations. Words of appreciation are also due to their teachers, parents, guardians, and all those who have supported the learners throughout their journey," he said. "To those learners who have not succeeded, please do not give up. Work harder and you will do better in this year’s examinations."
Ballim urged learners to be cautious when seeking guidance on how to improve their results, advising them to visit Umalusi's website for information on how to choose legitimate institutions.
"For guidance in terms of what to look for in choosing an institution (school or private college) to register with to improve your results, you are advised to visit the website of Umalusi. That will ensure that you do not fall prey to bogus institutions," he warned.
The marking of the NSC exams commenced on November 27, 2024, with over 50,000 markers involved in the process.
According to statistics, more than 727,000 full-time candidates and approximately 155,215 part-time candidates registered for the November exams.
In a final note, Ballim reaffirmed Umalusi's unwavering commitment to ensuring the credibility of South Africa's education system.
"Nobody doubts what we do in the service of every single young person in this country who chooses to walk the path of building their lives through education," he said.
"Nobody is ever hesitant about the fact that the best service we can do to each of those young people is to give them a certificate that has credibility."
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