Teacher unions say the leaking of the matric Mathematics Paper 2 has compromised the integrity of the examination.
On Monday, the Department of Education (DBE) confirmed the leaked paper, which was to be written at 9am had been leaked hours prior to the exam.
The DBE said an initial probe pointed to a few pupils in the two provinces – Gauteng and Limpopo. However, on further investigation it seemed the leaked paper went viral on examination WhatsApp groups, spreading to other provinces.
The investigating team is gathering evidence and a report will be submitted shortly. The department said it would enlist the support of the law enforcement agencies to assist with the investigation.
South African Teachers Democratic Union spokesperson Nomusa Cembi said the union is calling on the DBE to investigate the link as a matter of urgency and tighten its security measures around exam papers.
National Professional Teachers’ Organisation of South Africa (Naptosa) executive director Basil Manuel said the leak was an added difficulty to a challenging year for pupils.
“Naptosa deplores the leak because it not only causes untold trauma to the pupils who wrote the paper on Monday, not knowing whether their effort has been in vain, but to all matrics, worried that further breaches could affect them,” said Manuel.
He said the leak was a grave pity but not surprising.
“To refer to a possible rewrite in only the affected provinces or schools seems premature, because only the investigation will be able to clarify whether this breach is localised or of a broader nature.
’’With the late conclusion of the NSC examinations, a general rewrite of the Mathematics Paper 2, if required, will take the examination into the week of Christmas,” he said.
People shared mixed emotions about the leak on Twitter. Others mocked the country’s inadequacies.
@Mukhiri22 wrote: “It seems we cannot secure anything in this country, our borders, our question papers, it seems we have set a bar too high for ourselves.”
It seems we cannot secure anything in this country, our borders, our question papers, it seems we have set a bar too high for ourselves.
— mashudu (@mukhiri22) November 16, 2020
@Noziphongobese2 wrote: “Nothing goes right in this country aaah shame.”
While others took the matter seriously calling for authorities to step in.
@VusaMakubalo tweeted: “Please involve the Hawks asap. This is a very serious matter.”
Please involve the Hawks asap. This is a very serious matter.
— Vusumuzi Makubalo (@VusaMakubalo) November 16, 2020
@Mazazah2 posted: “As a concerned mother from KZN the paper was also available in the schools In KwaZulu Natal not Limpopo and only as it was said in the news, because social media you can share things internationally within a short period of time.”