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Adjusting matric marks has robbed pupils of As, say teachers at top Cape schools. Photo: Nqobile Mbonambi

A CHIEF matric exam invigilator, who is also the principal of a kwaMashu school, has been suspended for exam irregularities after he collected more exam papers than there were students sitting and writing the exam.

This was the first case in which such a senior person had been involved in exam irregularities, said national chief exams director, Nkosinathi Sishi.

Just days into the start of the national senior certificate exams, the man was suspended after pupils sat on Wednesday for a three-hour history paper. His position as principal is under investigation as well.

“It is very scary, it is actually disappointing. (But) It’s just a suspension and the investigation is still to come. There will be an internal hearing and the department is still going to check his records to see if he has been involved in any exam irregularities in the past,” Sishi said.

“The department will also conduct an investigation on his role as a principal at the school,” Sishi said.

Provincial education spokes- woman, Mbali Thusi, said exam monitors paid a routine visit to the school as part of the security plan and found 14 pupils writing a history exam.

The monitoring team discovered that the principal had collected 20 question papers at the collection point, Thusi said.

“The number of the question papers collected did not tally (with) the number of candidates at the school. The principal was asked to hand over the six extra copies.

“He handed over five question papers, and upon further interrogation, he handed over (another) question paper, which was in his office and had answers written on it,” Thusi said.

An urgent meeting was called and attended by the principal, district officials and senior provincial exam officials.

“The principal acknowledged that he knew that he could not take away the question paper outside of the writing room while the exams were under way, let alone provide answers to it,” Thusi said.

It is still unclear what the principal was going to do with the question papers.

The district office has taken over the administration of exams at the school and a deputy principal from another school will be appointed to manage exams at the school.

“The suspension of the principal only applies to his role as chief invigilator. He will continue in his duties as principal, but he will not be involved in the matric examination process,” Thusi said.

This morning, a man who identified himself as the principal refused to give the Daily News any comment on the allegations that had been made against him.

He said the department had not given him permission to comment.

Sishi said another issue that the department faced was pupils cribbing in exams.

Past investigations have shown that cribbing was most common in underperforming schools.

If caught, the pupil could be suspended from writing the exams for a maximum of two years, but it may even lead to criminal charges depending on the kind of material the pupil was copying from.

“This is why we have put in extra security measures to detect irregularities. In addition, we have appointed relief invigilators to assist if invigilators need to leave the exam room,” Sishi said.

“Some of these pupils were not taught well by their teachers and this leads to the increasing number of cribbing cases. It is a matter of teaching and learning,” Sishi said.

- Daily News