Zimbabwean Grade 12 Pupils Return to SA to Write 2026 Matric Exams
- The ZEPCC Academy is housing Zimbabwean matric pupils at a Johannesburg boarding facility ahead of October assessments
- An estimated 35,000 children left South Africa between May and September amid deportations and anti-immigration pressure
- Funding gaps and logistics remain unresolved as the committee urgently calls on affected learners to come forward
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SOUTH AFRICA — A coordinating body is facilitating the return of Zimbabwean Grade 12 pupils to South Africa so that they can sit their 2026 matric examinations, housing students at a boarding facility in Johannesburg ahead of the October assessment period.
According to The Citizen, the Zimbabwe Exemption Permit Coordinating Committee (ZEPCC) Academy issued an urgent appeal for affected learners to come forward, specifically reaching out to those who deregistered from their schools, missed June rewrite examinations, or experienced bullying in the period leading up to their departure from the country.
Thousands of pupils left SA during immigration crackdown
The intervention follows a period of intense anti-immigration pressure that prompted mass departures from South Africa. Between May and September this year, an estimated 35,000 children accompanied their parents back to Zimbabwe, disrupting their schooling at a critical stage of their academic careers.
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Many of the affected pupils have spent their entire school lives studying under South Africa's Curriculum and Assessment Policy Statement (CAPS), making a transition to an alternative educational system in Zimbabwe particularly difficult.
The ZEPCC Academy stated that transport arrangements were already underway. The Committee said they should contact ZEPCC Academy to be taken to a boarding facility to prepare for and write their 2026 exams.
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Funding and logistics still uncertain
Despite the urgency of the initiative, several critical details remain unresolved. The total number of students expected to return, arrangements for meal sponsorship, and how travel costs will be covered have not been confirmed. These gaps raise questions about whether the programme can be sustained at the scale required to assist all eligible learners.
The ZEPCC Academy has urged any affected Grade 12 pupils, those who may not have formally deregistered, to make contact as soon as possible to be included in the arrangements before the end of the week.
Grade 9 student missing four months of school
In a related article, Briefly News reported on a 16-year-old Grade 9 learner at Cosmo City Secondary School who was initially refused readmission after spending four months at an Ndebele initiation school in Limpopo. The case prompted intervention from the Gauteng Legislature’s COGTA portfolio committee and sparked debate over cultural obligations and education.
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Source: Briefly News
