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Matric Results | All eyes on ruling on whether to print or not
Education Activist, Hendrick Makaneta, says all eyes will be on the Pretoria High Court tomorrow in anticipation of its verdict on whether the matric results of the class of 2024 will be printed in newspapers or not.
Makaneta says for the first time ever, the court will clarify whether the right to privacy supersedes the right to interest in a case between the Information Regulator and the Department of Basic Education.
The regulator approached the court accusing DBE of violating the Protection of Personal Information (POPI) Act, when publishing the National Senior Certificate (NSC) results in newspapers.
The department, however, maintains that printing the results is not an invasion of privacy as they no longer release the learners’ names but their student numbers.
Information Regulator’s advocate, Collen Weapond, is, however, not convinced.
He says their problem is the sequential order of examination numbers, which has also made it easy for pupils to identify each other.
The legal show down comes just a week before the matric results are released on Tuesday.
Makaneta says DBE and the regulator were supposed to resolve this matter outside court as they belong in the same umbrella of government.
DBE vs IR face off
The feasibility of the Information Regulator’s suggestion that matriculants should rather send a SMS to get their results or get them at school took centre stage in the high court today with Judge Rowel Tolmay questioning whether learners from economically disadvantaged backgrounds have been considered.
In the clip below, judge Tolmay reflects on how these learners would have to purchase airtime in order to receive their results or have the funds to travel to their schools in the city in a bid to get a better education instead of attending a school in the village.
The judge’s focus on the migration of learners from rural areas is usually a contentious issue around the country when schools reopen, as some families even opt to send their children to live with a relative in another province in quest for quality education.
The urgency of the Information Regulator’s application also came into question, with DBE’s legal team arguing that the matter be thrown out of court, while the regulator maintained that the privacy of matriculants must be prioritised.
Basic Education spokesperson, Elijah Mhlanga, says they will publish results on Tuesday despite the legal wrangle.
@DBE_SA says that today’s urgent court matter has no bearing on it’s ability to deliver the 2024 Matric results at the centers/schools where Candidates sat for their exams. Newspapers are just one of the convenient access options, esp. for those who leave far or had since moved. https://t.co/VXQuRLzWgK pic.twitter.com/P9Tvq6XbBK
— Social Protection, Community & Human Development (@SocialClusterZA) January 7, 2025
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