Taking the pressure off Grade 12 learners

Grade 12 is a crucial year and government is doing its bit to help relieve the pressure.

Being in Grade 12 is exciting but there is also a lot of pressure on matriculants to perform their best as they will soon step into the real world.

For many learners the pressure becomes too much and many take their own lives. This is why it is so important for learners to be supported so that they not only cope with the pressure but also have a great year.

Mpumalanga Department of Education (MDE) spokesperson Jasper Zwane said the department has a variety of educational and support programmes in place to assist current learners and those who previously failed and want to improve their marks.

"The learners utilising the Multiple Examination Opportunity will write the NSC Examinations in June 2018. Hence the need to offer tuition, learner support material and other related support so that they can write the exams with confidence," said Zwane.

Lindiwe Mabuza, a parent who has two children in matric, said it is important to speak to your children to find out if they are coping with the added pressure.

"As a parent it is my responsibility to make sure that my children are in a good space when it comes to school and their social life. There is so much pressure on them to perform and negative people can easily influence them," she explained.

The Department of Education offers the following support:

• Eight centres funded by the Department of Basic Education (DBE) through the Second Chance Matric Support Programme.
• Twenty-three centres funded by the MDE.
•  Support of all candidates in the 11 highly enrolled gateway subjects.
• Twenty-three centre managers and 253 best performing teachers to support the candidates.
•  Saturday classes, from February to May 2018, for facilitation and related support.
•  Six hours per day, in the three subjects candidates are registered for, which translates into two hours per subject.
•  The Dial-A-Tutor Programme, which will be implemented to enhance individual learning through mitigating challenging topics, concepts, tasks and questions.
•  The Dial-A-Tutor Programme will extend beyond March 2018 as a support programme for all 2018 Grade 12 learners and other NSC candidates.
•  Scholar transport and nutrition will be provided and a costing will be done after candidates register for the programme.