Learners who passed the 2008 National Senior Certificate (NSC) will face a further wait to obtain their certificates following a change to the design format of the document.
Certificates for the class of 2008 were meant to be made available before the end of May, but learners will now have to wait at least until the end of August before the certificates are made available to the department of education which will be responsible for distributing them to learners.
The certificates are printed and distributed by of Umalusi, the statutory body responsible for the standard for general and further education and training in South Africa.
“The instruction to change the layout of the NSC certificate was issued by the minister of basic education this week,” Eugene Rabe, chief operating officer told the Teacher, suggesting that the printing of certificates was already behind schedule.
“The national coat of arms has been relocated from the bottom left of the certificate to the top centre. The intention is for the certificate to be ‘more South African’.”
Previous certificates had the coat of arms situated at the bottom of the document, with Umalusi’s logo taking prominence.
Rabe said the special watermark paper for printing the new-look certificates has already been ordered and should arrive in August. The printing should be completed by the end of August.
Although the actual National Senior Certificate provides the final and most accurate result of exams written by candidates, a statement of result issued by the national department of education at the beginning of the year to all candidates serves as proof of exam results until such time the newly formatted certificates are issued.
Umalusi has apologised to learners who experienced difficulties due to the delay.