* The committee heard that this year there are over 900 thousand candidates who have been registered to write NSC exams

CAPE TOWN, South Africa -- The Portfolio Committee has welcomed the briefings it received from the Department of Basic Education on its annual report for the 2024/25 financial year, Office of the Auditor-General of South Africa (AGSA) on audit outcomes of the department and Statutory Bodies, SACE and Umalusi.

The committee also received a briefing from Umalusi on the National Senior Certificate Examinations (NSC) 2025 readiness including learner support for the Second Chance Matric Programme.

The committee commended the department for the successful implementation of the recommendations of the AG after the 2023/24 audit outcomes. Among those recommendations is the department's successful implementation of control measures that have helped reduce irregular expenditure, showing progress in supporting implementing agents.

The committee also heard that the department has made good progress by Including MTSF indicators in the annual performance plan, which improved transparency and accountability, enabling better tracking of progress and addressing service delivery gaps.

During engagements, the Chairperson of the committee Ms Joy Maimela told the Minister Sive Gwarube that there should be a new funding model for schools because the current one has serious shortcomings. She said the current model perpetuates inequality between the dilapidating and historically disadvantaged and historically privileged schools. She said it is only a new funding model that can assist to address that deepening contradiction.

Reporting on the state of readiness of the National Senior Certificate (NSC) exams, Minister Gwarube told the committee that the class of 2025 started high school in 2021 at the height of the Covid-19 disruptions.

The committee heard that this year there are over 900 thousand candidates who have been registered to write NSC exams. The Minister said 706 000 of them are full-time and the rest are part-time candidates. She reiterated that the department is ready for the 2025 NSC exams that are currently underway, and thus far there have been no incidents of material value.

The committee expressed a concern over the disjuncture between the data of successful matriculants and the enrolment positions often available at universities and colleges. It called for a seamless enrolment transition to avoid the chaotic admission scenarios that often play themselves out at every start of a higher education academic calendar.

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of Republic of South Africa: The Parliament.