198 Inmates Write National Senior Certificate Exams in South African Prisons: Mzansi Finds Humour
- Prisoners in South Africa are writing exams, and the Department of Correctional Services revealed that 198 inmates have started with their matric papers
- The department also revealed that prisoners have a higher pass rate than citizens out of prison, with a pass rate of almost 90%
- South Africans reacted differently to the news, and while some were happy, others mocked and trolled them
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Tebogo Mokwena, a dedicated current affairs reporter, contributed coverage of social issues in South Africa during his eight years at Daily Sun, Capricorn Post and Vutivi Business News.
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The Department of Correctional Services revealed that almost 200 inmates will be writing their National Senior Certificate exams in prisons nationwide this year.
Prisoners have already started writing Computer Applications Technology and expect to write English on 30 October. On hearing this, South Africans joked that the prisoners are preparing for careers in politics.
Prisoners writing exams this year
More than 2 700 prisoners are writing exams for different levels, but only 198 are writing matric exams this year. Times LIVE revealed that 1 180 inmates are writing adult education exams, and 1471 will be writing technical vocational education and training (TVET) exams.
What may surprise many is that prisoners of 2022 almost matched the the 2022 national matric class in their matric pass rate, having obtained an 87.5% pass rate.
Four of the inmates achieved six distinctions during the exams. The National Commissioner of Correctional Services Makgothi Thobakgale pointed out that education is a significant tool in ensuring that individuals who are incarcerated secure a better future for themselves.
South Africans have jokes, some offer support
South Africans on Facebook came out in numbers to make fun of the prisoners. They slammed the education system for being more accessible to prisoners than citizens outside of prison. Some also spared a few good words for them.
Keith Richard Mears said:
“They all have a great career in politics ahead of them. Hopefully, the exams will show them how not to get caught this time.”
Happy Robert added:
“Our future Eskom board members. Congratulations in advance.”
Thabo Peter remarked:
“They will come back and become comrades, ministers, party leaders, community representatives and shareholders in Eskom.”
Khehla Methula exclaimed:
“That’s good for their rehabilitation and correction of mind. Congratulations.”
Shaik Roxy Roxanne wrote:
“This is why we work so hard to rehabilitate prisoners. People who judge from the outside should not be too quick to judge if they have not been in similar shoes.”
Prisoner dances in TikTok video
In a similar article, Briefly News reported that a TikTok video of a prisoner showing off his dance moves had people pleading for him to get parole.
The gent was strutting and breaking it down, but South Africans were not impressed. Instead, they believe his dance moves were so old that he must have served enough time to be set free.
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Source: Briefly News
