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Grade 12 Zimbabwean school pupils who were forced to leave South Africa in the wake of the June 30 deadline for immigrants to leave the country are being brought back this week to prepare for and write their final matric examinations.
The process is being facilitated by the Zimbabwe Exemption Permit Coordinating Committee (ZEPCC) Academy, which has appealed to affected pupils to return to SA ahead of the October National Senior Certificate examinations.
With the exams only weeks away, displaced pupils have a limited window in which to return, settle into accommodation and resume preparations.
The situation has also raised concerns about pupils who may have been prevented from registering for the exams, deregistered or unable to complete other examination requirements as a result of their displacement.
This comes two months after The Citizen reported that thousands of Zimbabwean pupils faced an education crisis as families affected by deportations and anti-immigration tensions were forced to leave SA.
At the time, the committee warned that Grade 12 pupils were particularly vulnerable because many had spent their entire school careers following SA’s Curriculum and Assessment Policy Statement (Caps).
The committee has since issued an urgent appeal to Grade 12 pupils outside SA and those who remained in the country but failed to register, deregistered, missed the June rewrite exams or are facing intimidation and bullying at schools to contact it.
Pupils will stay at boarding facility in Johannesburg
“They should contact ZEPCC Academy to be taken to a boarding facility to prepare and write their 2026 exams. We hereby inform you that the children will be going to SA before end of this week.
“They will be staying at a boarding facility in Johannesburg,” the committee said in a notice to parents of affected pupils.
There is no clarity how many pupils will be accommodated at the facility, who will cover the cost of the intervention, including meals and other basic necessities, how many are expected to travel from Zimbabwe and how many are already in SA.
At least 35 000 children reportedly returned to Zimbabwe with their parents between May and September.