Mistaken identity caused a learner to receive matric results 7 days late
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North West Department of Education has clarified the matter that saw a grade 12 learner who allegedly received his matric results a week later than his peers.
The Department says the clarification aroused from the article that was published by North West Times which read that the said learner from Leruntse Lesedi Secondary School in Makwassie near Wolmaranstad town has not yet obtained his results because the department declared him dead whilst he is still alive.
The Education MEC in the province Viola Motsumi said through a statement that what was written in the article was not true.
She said there were two learners with similar surnames, and unfortunately the other learner passed away on May 2022 and the school reported the matter to the province for capturing. Due to human error the surviving learner was mistakenly deregistered at the level of Head Office instead of the deceased learner.
“I wish to express our extreme disappointment on the North West Times newspaper who decided to publish a story without giving the department a right to reply. We view this as an intention to create sensation which compromises journalism ethics.”
“As a department we invited the parent, learner and the principal to come to our offices to clarify this matter in January and all parties were satisfied with the explanation. The learner obtained good grades on five subjects and has registered to supplement 2 subject namely History and Geography to improve his performance”.
MEC Motsumi further highlighted that the department has sent officials to the family for psycho-social support.
The learner got his results on the 27th January while others received them on the 20th.
He has also registered to write the supplementary examination to improve his History and Geography results after doing well in 5 other subjects.
