Of the more than two-million subject entries received for the technical and vocational education and training (TVET) college examinations written in November 2016, the results of 8 224, or 0.4%, of subject entries were still outstanding.
This, Higher Education and Training Minister Dr Blade Nzimande attributed to low capture rates by examination centres, the absence of codes at submission at examination centres and data processing errors on the information technology (IT) platform used to process the results.
“The State Information Technology Agency (Sita) has admitted that its IT system is not functioning optimally. [However], Sita has committed to providing the department with a functioning IT system to resolve all result and certification challenges,” he said during a media briefing on Thursday.
Nzimande pointed out that a further 54 561 subject results remained blocked on the system, owing to examination paper leaks that were reported in four subjects, while 1 298 candidates had their results blocked owing to acts of dishonesty.
The Department of Higher Education and Training expects all outstanding results to be available by February 28, with all certificates to be processed by March 31.
Nzimande added that, since August 2015, the department has reduced a certification backlog for the National Certificate Level 2, 3 and 4 qualifications from 236 821 to 973.