Tujoromajo Kasuto
With universities starting with registration the same time as learners rewriting their exams, the Ministry of Education, Arts and Culture ((MOEAC), through the Ministry of Higher Education, Technology and Innovation, has engaged the institutions of higher learning on this matter and arrangements are in place for the affected learners to register upon the release of their examination results.
MOEAC Executive Director (ED), Sanet Steenkamp, says that the examination results for the full time National Senior Secondary Certificate Ordinarily Level (NSSCO) and Advanced Subsidiary Level (AS level), New Curriculum, will be released mid February. Whilst the results of part-time candidates of the old (Legacy) curriculum examination will be released in March. The exact date for the release of both examinations results will be communicated to the public in due course.
Steenkamp further states that arrangements have been made between the two education ministries and institutions of higher learning for the affected learners to register at a later stage under normal registration conditions. Therefore, school leavers should not incur additional cost due to late registration.
Steenkamp further clarifies that this is the first time the Ministry is experiencing an examination leakage of this magnitude, and together with the law enforcement agencies they acted swiftly to contain the scam.
“Those implicated have been apprehended and the law as applicable will take its course,” she notes.
The International University of Management (IUM) spokesperson, Gerry Munyama, confirms that the Ministry of Higher Education has indeed informed and consulted with the universities about the developments regarding rescheduled exams. He adds that universities are there to serve all those who wish to further their education at the highest level, and it is their duty to ensure that all provisionally admitted applicants are taken care off.
IUM in particular shall ensure that no duly qualified applicant is disadvantaged due to the unfortunate circumstances that led to the examination rewriting . “There should absolutely be no panic among parents, guardians and loved ones or applicants themselves in this regard. They should rest assured, therefore, that all new students who got provisional admission at IUM and are awaiting their final NSSCO/AS results for the rescheduled Gr. 11/12 exams will be registered any time after the release of the final results,” he vows.
Meanwhile, the University of Namibia (Unam) Spokesperson, John Haufiku, says should students’ marks who are provisionally admitted be delayed, the university will find a solution around it. He adds that only about 17% of students are first years, thus they are not an impossible number to manage. “Not all first years come straight from grade 12, so a notable number would already have full admission,” he affirms.
Regarding late registration, he clarifies that normally delays that are not caused by students don’t impact them negatively.
Similarly, the Namibian University of Science and Technology (Nust) shares the same sentiments. “NUST will make provision to accommodate those who have received provisional acceptance from the Institution,” states Spokesperson Nico Smit.
