About 2 500 Grade 12 learners from Vuwani and the surrounding villages in Limpopo are expected to start with their preliminary exams on Thursday after it was delayed by a week.

The Basic Education department says the reason for the delay is that learners were still behind with their school work.

The learners were prevented from going to school for nearly three months due to a demarcation protest during which at least 30 schools were torched.

The grade 12 learners were taken to three camps for a catch up program that lasted for a month.

However they were still behind with their school work. This led to the delay in starting the trial examinations.

Some Vuwani residents were protesting against the inclusion of their areas into the newly established Collins Chabane municipality.

Meanwhile, members of the National Council of Provinces who visited the schools in Vuwani expressed concern that some learners dropped out of school after the violent protests erupted.

Reporting by Witness Tiva