Cape Town - The independent school attended by a matric learner who was barred from writing her exam under South African Comprehensive Assessment Institute (Sacai) policies after testing positive for Covid-19, said the decision was not up to them.
The learner’s mother said her 18-year-old daughter was denied from writing her last exam under Sacai policies, which could hamper her dreams of studying abroad next year.
Sacai’s policies and guidelines make provision for candidates who tested positive for Covid-19 to write at their facilities after the 10-day isolation period.
The mom said she also shared with the invigilator and Sacai a clearance letter from a doctor who said her daughter was not contagious anymore and fit to write.
“We also needed to do the test because of travel plans. She has been accepted to further her studies abroad for 2021, so we planned to leave after her exam that was supposed to be on Monday. Everything now has come to a halt because Sacai doesn’t have an alternative plan for my daughter. She has to write a supplementary next year. The only time she had a Covid-19 symptom was about two weeks ago when she had a blocked nose. Since then she has been well,” said the mom said.
In a statement, the pupils’ school said: “The official stance is that we must abide by the examination body’s (SACAI’s) Covid examination policies. In addition, we must respect steps taken by the Chief Invigilator at each examination centre, who must make difficult decisions to protect the other learners and staff. The academy supports all efforts made by the examination bodies to accommodate learners in these very difficult times.”
Sacai did not respond to requests for comment on Tuesday, despite indicating they would do so.
The Department of Basic Education(DBE) with the assistance from the department of health however allows all candidates who test positive for Covid-19 to write their National Senior Certificate (NSC) exams, but in isolation.
Cape Times