1959 NATAL JUNIOR CERTICATE EXAM PAPERS

The Junior Certficate examination, which we usually called the "JC" was a final examination of all Fourth Form (standard 8) pupils in Natal Province.  The provincial Education Department was responsible for the exam papers. and our own teachers had no role in setting the questions or marking the answers.  All our exam answers were submitted anonymously,  with the use of designated number instead of our name.  All pupils were studied seven subjects, of which five were compulsory: English, Afrikaans, arithmetic, mathematics, and science.  We could select the remainder from Latin, geography, biology, history, and art.  Essay-type answers were often required and there were no multiple-choice questions.  Below are our 1959 exam papers for English, Afrikaans, Latin, physical Science, history and maths. 

 

ENGLISH EXAMINATIONS  (two papers)

First paper:  English literature

(This paper examined knowledge and understanding of our text books:  the novel Oliver Twist  by Dickens, the play The Mechant of Venice by Shakespeare, and an anthology of poetry,  Fresh Fields.)

Second paper:  English language

(This paper tested essay composition and various skills of comprehension, vocabulary, syntax, and grammar.   For some reason, we were told to cross out the essay section in this exam paper and to subsitute new questions printed on a mimeographed sheet of paper.  Presumably there had been a "leak" of the essay questions before the exam.)

 

 

AFRIKAANS EXAMINATION

 

LATIN EXAMINATION

 

HISTORY EXAMINATION

 

PHYSICAL SCIENCE EXAMINATION

 

ARITHMETIC EXAMINATION

 

MATHEMATICS EXAMINATION

 

Our Junior Certificate exam results were sent to us in the mail as a postcard: