Teacher and student unions have had mixed responses to a move from the Department of Basic Education to halt the publication of matric results in the media.

On Monday, media houses were issued with a notice, stating that "the usual practice" of publishing matric results would not take place for the 2021 marks.

The department cited the Protection of Personal Information Act (POPIA) as the reason, saying the dissemination of pupils' personal information would be in contravention of it.

South African Democratic Teachers Union (Sadtu) spokesperson Nomusa Cembi said the union supported the move because it would benefit pupils.

"The fact that the results are not being made public will lessen the pressure on learners. Teenagers are vulnerable and we often hear of cases of suicides linked to the matric results," she said.

"Complying with the POPIA will respect learners' privacy – why should the whole world know their marks? It's fine for the public to know the general averages; they don't need to know how individual learners have done."

Congress of South African Students (Cosas) president general Thabang Mokoena said the union had been lobbying to have the publication of matric results scrapped for years.

'Right to privacy'

He added that pupils who failed matric often faced ridicule from their peers and could develop depression.

"We're very grateful our calls have been heard. We're trying to save learners," he said.

The sentiment was echoed by South African Union of Students (SAUS) spokesperson Avise Dlanjwa.

"Learners have a right to privacy. This decision is long overdue. There's no reason why personal details should be published and we should be protecting the privacy of learners. This will also lead to better mental health among learners, and we welcome the department's decision."

In a letter to editors, dated 10 January, department spokesperson Elijah Mhlanga said pupils would be required to obtain their statement of results from the schools they attended.

"In this way every learner's personal information with regards to the outcome of their National Senior Certificate exam will be protected," he said.

The SA National Editors Forum (Sanef) said it would seek legal advice on the decision, given the late notice.

'Single access point'

"We will get legal advice to understand if we have a legitimate complaint as media," said Sanef chairperson Sbu Ngalwa.

Media houses customarily prepared special projects to help pupils get their results before waiting for schools to open to fetch their certificates.

The Federation of School Governing Bodies (Fedsas) CEO Jaco Deacon called the move "ludicrous".

He said the student numbers published by the media did not constitute as personal information and that the public would not have any access to private information in the publishing of the matric results.

"The media perform an important service in publishing the results. It's not possible for all learners to travel to their examination centres and there shouldn't be only a single access point for learners to receive their results."

Deacon said the department had already taken steps to protect the identity of matric pupils.

"The department moved away from publishing the names of learners to protect their identity and that's why they only publish the student numbers. If this is to prevent cases of matric suicides and similar incidents, then the department should address that. Using the POPIA is not the correct response for a social issue."