• A group of 500 parents are looking to pursue litigation against the South African Comprehensive Assessment Institute (SACAI).
• Last year they alleged that SACAI had incorrectly assigned final results to their matric children.
• Parents had similar reactions after the 2024 matric exams as well.

A group of parents of online schooled and homeschooled learners who alleged “irregularities” with the 2023 and 2024 Matric exam results marked by the South African Comprehensive Assessment Institute (SACAI) are set to move forward with litigation against the institute.

This is according to messages in a WhatsApp group comprised of more than 500 parents, some of which spoke to Hypertext last year about what they perceived to be alleged maladministration in the institute where the final matric results apparently did not reflect the performance of their children during the entire school year.

“We are working closely with the 2024 committee and will be moving forward with litigation,” one of the administrators of the group announced on Friday morning.

“I know we have been quiet, but we are still fighting the fight.”

The parents involved now say they will be looking to collect funds from other parents in the group to pursue legal action.

Last year, parents told Hypertext that the marks their children received from SACAI were allegedly “erratic” and that their children’s mental health was negatively affected by the results.

A similar situation occurred this year, with parents again angry that many learners had received final marks much lower than their averages across the year. SACAI responded to the allegations and said that it averages yearly marks based on the final exam marks as the National Senior Certificate (NSC) exams are considered to be “the ultimate standard.”

“I have a devastated child, who feels like she wants to commit suicide,” one parent involved in the group told Hypertext last year,

“Together with all of our other children. Other friends who are in the same boat, because she cannot go to university. We know for a fact that these are not her marks.”

In response to multitudes of queries from parents, SACAI continues to say that 2023 and 2024 matric exams for online schools such as UCT Online School and homeschools were conducted and marked as planned.

It said that the School-Based Assessment (SBA) marks for matric learners are adjusted for the final results, which may lower the averages in order to be in line with the NSC exam mark.

“If the SBA is more that 10% higher/lower than the exam average, the SBA will be adjusted so that it is in line with the exam average as Umalusi views the NSC exam as the ultimate standard,” the institute explained to parents via email.

“We have had numerous cases of inflated SBA marks. SACAI cannot comment on the quality of teaching and the quality of preparation for the final NSC examinations. Despite that, we had institutions with a 100% pass rate.”

The situation will likely continue to unravel going forward, and unless changes occur to the way SACAI marks the final matric exams, angry reactions from parents and learners will happen once again come 2026.