Progress in probing Maths paper leak

Thursday, January 12, 2017

Pretoria - The Department of Basic Education says hearings for all learners implicated in the leaking of Mathematics Paper 2 in two schools in Limpopo during the 2016 National Senior Certificate (NSC) examinations will be completed in the next two weeks.

The department on Thursday said final recommendations will be presented to the National Examinations Irregularities Committee for ratification afterwards.

“If all arrangements proceed according to plan, the outcome of the hearings can be finalised by end of January 2017,” said the department, giving an update on progress made regarding investigations and hearings into the matter.

The two schools implicated in this are Giyani High School and New Era College. The results of all the subjects written by the implicated learners from these schools have been blocked pending the outcome of the full investigation.

Umalusi also did not approve the release of their results ahead of the release of the 2016 NSC Examinations results.

The department said it is committed to ensuring that these investigations, together with the hearings, are concluded as soon as possible to ensure that learners can continue with their future plans.

According to the department, the Provincial Examinations Irregularities Committee (PEIC) convened the hearings for the implicated learners from Giyani High school on Tuesday and all learners presented themselves to the hearing.

However, the department said it was not able to proceed with the arrangements for the hearings at New Era College, as the college has lodged an urgent interdict at the Thohoyandou High Court for the Limpopo Education Department to release the results of the New Era candidates in other subjects except Mathematics.

The case was postponed to Friday, 13 January 2017.

Irregularity at another Limpopo school

During the investigations relating to the leaked examination paper, the department said it has identified cases of group copying at High Quality Independent High School, also located in Limpopo.

The results of learners from this school have also been blocked and hearings for learners from this school are scheduled for 12 and 13 January 2017. - SAnews.gov.za