More than 60 000 full-time matrics in KwaZulu-Natal will fail their final examinations this year, the provincial Department of Education has predicted.

This year 155 177 full-time matriculants and 57 953 part-time candidates will write their final examinations.

Despite the department's upbeat attitude about matriculants' performance this year, authorities distributed a document entitled "provincial strategy for pupils who will fail Grade 12 in November 2007" as early as July.

Those pupils who fail this year will be allowed to rewrite exams in May and June next year, which will cost the department R101,4-million.

The money will go toward hiring tuition and examination venues, buying stationery and books, paying teachers to tutor pupils and paying personnel to mark exam papers.

They will have until 2011 to write as private candidates to obtain their senior certificate.

In addition to the 60 000 failures, an additional 5 000 pupils, who failed Grade 11 and were allowed to proceed to Grade 12, will write exams next year because they will only be allowed to write three subjects this year.

The document stated the failure rate was determined by looking at statistics of the past three years. Although the pass rate has steadily declined from 74 percent in 2004 to 65.6 percent last year, the department anticipated an improvement of 4 percent.

Union leaders described the department's early pessimism, in the form of the document, as a cause for concern.

National Teachers' Union spokesman, Musa Gumede, said he did not know if the document was the result of the public service strike in June or the new curriculum that will be implemented next year.

He said it was possible the department was removing pupils from the old curriculum to make way for the new one.

The document outlined several challenges in accommodating old curriculum matriculants who failed this year in the new academic year, which included:

An unavailability of floor space as schools will be used for normal teaching of the new curriculum during and after school hours

A shortage of teachers to provide them with tuition.

The vastness of the province and large number of subjects offered, which would be problematic in clustering schools for tuition

Matriculants who fail will be grouped according to geographical location and those whose schools fell within a 10 kilometre radius will be taught at one tuition centre.

They will receive about 80 hours of tuition per subject after school, over weekends and during school vacation periods.

Teachers will be paid R150 an hour for tuition.