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Violence and bullying is experienced by many learners at schools across South Africa, government departments are now coming together to bring an end to this by introducing a roadshow campaign at schools. 

20-year-old Mhlengi Dlamini is desperate for medical care and justice after he was assaulted by a teacher at Isolemamba High School in Kwa-Zulu Natal over two years ago.

The passing of 15 year old Lufuno Mavhunga has given government a wake up call about bullying at schools. 

Woza Matrics has officially launched today. The Department of Basic education launched this programme to help matric learners catch up with school work. Classes will be broadcast on TV channels, online platforms and radio. 

The Department of Basic Education has faced many challenges over the past year. Minister Angie Motshekga recently shared how her department has managed to bounce back. 

The Basic Education Portfolio Committee has expressed concern regarding the state of readiness for the reopening of schools in the Eastern Cape, as the province experiences shortages of teachers and delays in textbook deliveries. 

Schools in the Eastern Cape have been facing challenges with basic infrastructure for many years leaving learners to be taught in unsafe environments and affecting their quality of education. 

The 2021 academic year is set to begin on 25 January for teachers and 27 January for the learners with a 3-year recovery plan which will make up for lost time due to the current pandemic.

The national Matric rewrites were set to happen today and Thursday but since that was decision was set aside, the Department has now reacted to it. Although the court has ruled that a rewrite won't take place, the Department still believes that it would have been the logical action to take.

Unions have now gotten what they wanted. A ruling has come down that the national matric rewrite of Maths and Physical Sciences Paper 2 will be set aside leading to unions feeling vindicated by the judgement. The Department now has to deliberate on a strategy to restore the integrity of the matric certificate.

The Department of Basic Education is still convinced that it is much better for Matrics to rewrite the two contested papers now rather than waiting to see what happens.  They have said that if the rewrites don't happen now, during the current exam session, the consequences could be far worse for Matrics next year if the exams results cannot be approved and released.

The Department of Basic Education's decision to rewrite and the fact that it is now being challenged in court could affect University admissions. The Department of Basic Education has said that if these rewrites don't take place, the exams would then have been compromised.

The Department of Basic Education (DBE) is in court today following multiple organisations taking legal action against the Department's decision to have national rewrites for the leaked Matric papers. DBE therefore had to defend it's decision.

Equal Education is said to not be convinced that the rewriting of the leaked Matric papers are justified and that Umalusi along with the Department of Basic Education have not given enough reason for this rewrite to be appropriate.

The Department of Basic Education has announced that two Matric exam papers will be rewritten and Umalusi is said to be on board with this decision and blames the human element. Both the Mathematics Paper 2 and Physical Sciences Paper 2 is set to be rewritten.

Student body COSAS wants to see Minister Angie Motshekga in court following her announcement that Matrics will be rewriting exam papers which were leaked. The exams were set to end on 15 December but will now end on the 17th.

The Department's announcement that Matrics will rewrite Maths Paper 2 along with Physical Sciences Paper 2 has received a lot of backlash. Some government officials are supportive of the decision while others are on the side of unions who believe the decision should be reversed.

Learners in South African schools were thrown into the deep end this year. Now, some parents and learners are even contemplating scrapping the year and redoing it. The Minister addressed this while answering questions on school attendance.

The Department of Basic Educations has issued a set of revised protocols for schools to follow for Matric exams. These protocols were released a few days into Matrics having already started exams and confused many around the country.

Wanting to get ready and equipped for your upcoming exams? Past papers are a great resource and will help you get used to what your exam will most probably look like. Here are some grade 12 past papers for you to work through.