Exam fraud involving dozens of teachers in Mpumalanga is of great concern, but does not affect the credibility of the higher national exams, according to teachers’ unions.
Teachers at Manyeleti Circuit in Bohlabela Education District are banned from scoring Matrix exams following allegations of fraud involving teachers and students.
Allegations that matric students paid teachers to answer tests in WhatsApp groups surfaced about a week ago.
Walter Hlaise, provincial secretary of the South African Democratic Teachers Union (Sadtu) in Mpumalanga, said the union takes the allegations seriously.
This was the first time that allegations of “teachers… actively [assisting] apprentices to cheating, it is shocking to us, and we strongly condemn it.”
Hlaise stressed that the alleged fraud was limited to the Manyeleti circuit.
The provincial secretary called on the Basic Education Secretariat to “accelerate” the investigation into the alleged scams.
The national department launched an investigation in collaboration with the provincial education department.
“The department is concerned that there are individuals and forces that are hell-bent on doing anything to circumvent systems in place to maintain the credibility and integrity of public examinations,” the provincial department said in a statement.
Jaco Deacon, chief executive of the Federation of South African School Governance Bodies (Fedsas), said the credibility of the general national matriculation exam was “no longer in question”.
Sadtu National Deputy General Secretary Nkosana Dolopi said: “We are talking about more than 700,000 students who enrolled [for matric]. We must be fair to those students who spent so much time preparing for exams.
“We are condemning those who tried to drag this entire examination through the mud for whatever wrong they have done,” but, Dolopi added, “proper security measures and protocols” were for the most part followed.
The South African National Organization of Professional Teachers (Naptosa) agreed that stricter measures had been put in place following a 2020 incident when two exams were leaked during the printing process.
Naptosa chief executive Basil Manuel said that while the “continuing cycle” of test fraud does not call into question the credibility of the document itself, it “could lead to people questioning the credibility of the test” because they only know who they were. caught up.
Manuel said he viewed the recent incident as a “whole new phenomenon where we are seeing a large number of teachers cheating.”
The incident involved security guards and a “sophisticated method” was followed to ensure students had their cell phones and teachers had their papers before the exam began.
“My mind tells me how organized this union was and that worries me,” Manuel said.
Elijah Mhlanga, spokesman for the national education department, confirmed that the investigation into the alleged fraud was underway and that the The scripts of the schools involved had been taken for marking and analysis in the investigation.
He reiterated that the investigation is limited to Mpumalanga, not six provinces as reported. The number of students and teachers involved has not yet been confirmed.
Fedsas said it expected further comment from the department during a meeting on December 23.
