Parents fret over matric exam paper leaks

DUCATION stakeholders predict that the leaking of matric examination papers will create anxiety about how the leaks will affect the rest of the exams going forward.. Picture Henk Kruger/African News Agency (ANA)

DUCATION stakeholders predict that the leaking of matric examination papers will create anxiety about how the leaks will affect the rest of the exams going forward.. Picture Henk Kruger/African News Agency (ANA)

Published Nov 25, 2020

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Durban - EDUCATION stakeholders predict that the leaking of matric examination papers will create anxiety about how the leaks will affect the rest of the exams going forward.

The Daily News has received information that some Durban Grade 12 pupils had access to the Mathematics Paper 2 before it was written.

There was a video clip of the question paper and conversations over a chat group where pupils circulated the paper.

The cell numbers of the members were visible, making it easy for the team of investigators to trace them.

Parents’ bodies have expressed concern about the impact of these paper leaks on their children, who are writing their National Senior Certificate final exams during this challenging and abnormal year. In a statement issued yesterday, Basic Education Minister Angie Motshekga, following reports of the Physical Science paper leak, said the department was hard at work to ensure that exams were protected.

KZN Parents’ Association chairperson Vee Gani said after confirmation by the Department of Basic Education that the Mathematics Paper 2 had been leaked, he received information that some pupils at Durban schools had access to the paper before it was written. Gani said he had received correspondence from parents who were worried about the future of their children.

They appealed to him for assistance in representing parents to ensure that not all pupils, including those who were part of the chat group where the Maths paper was allegedly circulated, were punished for the wrongdoing of others.

This, he said, was unless there was sufficient evidence that they had cheated in the exam. “I have confidence in the department’s ongoing investigations. I do not expect that the department would force a rewrite for all pupils when it is not necessary,” he said.

However, National Schools Governing Bodies Association general secretary Matakanye Mtakanye said if the report that the Maths paper had been leaked in eight out of nine provinces was correct, that was an indication that the leak was widespread and that a rewrite was necessary.

“The issue we have as parents is that it would be difficult to establish who had access to the paper, and who did not. There should be a rewrite in order to ensure that the integrity of the exams is not compromised,” said Matakanya.

The DA spokesperson on Education, Imran Keeka, said the news of yet another leak would with no doubt create anxiety on how it would affect the rest of the exams. “It is abhorrent that just a few individuals should ruin the futures of so many pupils,” said Keeka.

Daily News

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Basic Education