Anxious wait for pupils as court decides on publication of results

AS LEARNERS who wrote matric last year anxiously await their results, AfriForum, Maroela Media and a 2021 matriculant will today face the Department of Basic Education (DBE) to decide whether the results will be made public on media platforms.

Last week, the DBE shocked the nation after it announced that the usual practice of publishing the National Senior Certificate (NSC) matric results on public media platforms would not occur.

DBE spokesperson Elijah Mhlanga said that this was in line with the Protection of Personal Information Act, 2013 (Act No 4 of 2013) (Popia), which came into effect on July 1 last year.

The move by the department was praised by numerous organisations, especially in regard to matric learners’ mental health. However, not everyone was happy with the decision.

Last Friday, AfriForum, Maroela Media and Anlé Spies (a 2021 matriculant) served court papers on, among others, Angie Motshekga, the Minister of Basic Education, in order to oppose the DBE’s sudden decision not to publish the 2021 matric results in the media on an urgent basis in court.

Natasha Venter, manager for education rights at AfriForum, said the DBE cannot hide behind the Protection of Personal Information Act, 4 of 2013 to justify this “irrational decision”.

“Only the examination numbers of the students are published on media platforms.

“In other words no personal information or the identities of learners would be made public without their consent.

In a democratic country information must (within the ambit of the law) be freely available and this is a principle that the department should support,” Venter said.

The urgent application will be heard in the North Gauteng High Court in Pretoria today before Motshekga makes the announcement about the 2021 NSC matric results on Thursday and they are released to the candidates on Friday.

“In handling the matter the department is guided by the need to comply with all the legal obligations but in the final analysis the Constitution commands the DBE to act in the best interest of the learner.

“In a quest to strike this delicate balance of complying with Popia and act in the best interest of the learner, the department has been engaged with a number of role-players including the Information Regulator and the SA National Editors’ Forum,” the department said.

In view of the latest developments with regards to the release of the 2021 matric results and the impending litigation, the department announced on Sunday that it would abide by the decision of the court and not oppose the urgent application.

The department added that it also received representations from a vast array of organisations and individuals fol lowing the announcement of the results publication.

AfriForum’s Venter said: “We hope to ensure in the court on Tuesday (today) that the 2021 matriculants will be able to access their results on media platforms as has been the norm in the past.”

Meanwhile, the DBE has urged the matric class of 2021 to register on their website to view their results when they become available.

“Candidates will have to go through a two-step verification process before receiving confirmation of their registration. A 13-digit ID number and the exam number will be required for registration.”

The DBE website is zero-rated, which means that even if learners don’t have data, they will still be able to access the site. |