[Image: Grocott’s Mail]
The Department of Basic Education has rubbished an online claim that South African schools will be going up to Grade 13.
This follows numerous videos purporting to have ‘insider knowledge’ of this have gone viral, scaring both pupils and parents alike about a possible extra year to be added from 2026.
Rubbishing the claim, the Education Department said it was fake news and urged South Africans to be aware that there is “always disinformation online” and asked that people exercise caution when consuming news.
The main peddler of this nonsense seems to be a TikToker called @garfieldzars who posted “High school no longer ends in Grade 12. It now finishes in Grade 13.”
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“Please be wary of fake news! There are no plans to add Grade 13 to the South African schooling system. Official announcements by the Department of Basic Education are published on the DBE’s official communication platforms,” said the department.
Please be wary of fake news! There are no plans to add #Grade13 to the South African schooling system. Official announcements by the Department of Basic Education are published on the DBE’s official communication platforms. pic.twitter.com/DtV75gMr2u
— Dep. Basic Education (@DBE_SA) February 22, 2025
Following the DBE’s statement, @garfieldzars posted a follow-up video saying, “I know there is no Grade 13 coming. I just made the video because I thought it was funny. Obviously, there isn’t going to be a Grade 13. I am not an idiot.”
That’s debatable, but it does serve as another reminder not to believe everything you see online.
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Stick to bottle tossing and Skibidi toilette TikTokkers, don’t scare parents who just want to get their kids out of the house.
[Source: IOL]
