Motshekga to meet Umalusi

Tuesday, January 5, 2010

Pretoria - Basic Education Minister, Angie Motshekga, will later today meet with examination quality assurance body, Umalusi, to discuss the expected delays in the release of Mpumalanga's matric results.

"The minister will today meet with Umalusi to discuss the issue ...We hope that from the meeting it would be agreed that at least 80 percent of the results can be released on Thursday and the remaining 20 percent at least the following week," ministerial spokesperson Hope Mokgatlhe told BuaNews.

According to Mokgatlhe, the proposal to only withhold results in affected areas was taken after a meeting between Motshekga, Premier David Mabuza and Education MEC Regina Mhaule.

Mokgatlhe said it was also agreed that the province's entire examination unit would be re-established.

"What this means is that from now onwards, examinations in Mpumalanga will be controlled by the national department," she explained.

The minister has since organised the Hawks to probe the Mpumalanga education department's conduct.

This comes after Umalusi on Monday announced that the Mpumalanga results would not be released on Thursday, when the rest of the country's results will be made known.

The council which is responsible for quality assurance in General and Further Education and Training, announced that it could not verify the credibility of the results for Mpumalanga because of the exam leaks which took place in October.

The mathematics exam Paper 1 and 2, Physical Science Papers 1 and 2 and Accounting - were leaked and subsequently recalled and replaced countrywide.

Umalusi said it was still in the process of studying reports from the Department of Basic Education and exam centres across Mpumalanga and would announce the results once these processes are completed.

"Umalusi regrets the inconvenience and anxiety this might generate on the part of the learners and families, but Umalusi is being guided by its statutory mandates of ensuring that the results approved for release are credible."

The body has, however, approved the release of results of the senior certificate matric examinations in the other eight provinces.