An investigation into a massive matric exam cheating scandal involving teachers has confirmed that the results of hundreds of pupils in certain subjects in 26 Mpumalanga schools will be blocked.
A 23-page provisional report dated January 11, which the Sunday Times has seen, says the results of 393 candidates who wrote maths papers 1 and 2 at 26 schools in the Bohlabela district in the north of the province are among those that will be blocked.
This follows investigative marking by 22 subject specialists of answer scripts in 15 subjects written by pupils from 36 schools.
A month ago, the Sunday Times broke the story of the cheating scandal brought to light by a whistle-blower who alleged pupils paid teachers up to R1,500 to join a WhatsApp group, known as “Road to Varsity”, on which answers to matric exam questions were posted.
The ensuing investigation involved 14 officials from the department of basic education and the Mpumalanga education department.
They recommended that the results be blocked for pupils writing life sciences at 17 schools; consumer studies at three schools; history at one school; and 12 candidates writing isiZulu at one school.
The report recommends that the results of a pupil from North West, who was linked to the irregularities in Mpumalanga, should also be blocked.
Exams quality assurance body Umalusi said it would share information about the Mpumalanga cheating scandal at a briefing tomorrow when it makes an announcement on the 2022 national exam results.
Basic education minister Angie Motshekga will officially announce the results on Thursday.
The initial investigation was triggered by tip-offs on the department of basic education’s exam hotline for reporting exam irregularities.
It followed an incident involving a life sciences teacher from Dlumana High near Bushbuckridge in the Manyeleti circuit who got hold of the second life sciences paper while it was being written and posted the answers on the Bohlabela Educators’ chat group.
The teacher was suspended on November 22.
The report states that a candidate acknowledged she was aware of the “Road to Varsity” WhatsApp group but did not join it.
“There is evidence that learners were assisted while they were in the exam room and it is assumed that this happened either through answers being transmitted through cellphones, or through a crib note that was shared with learners or learners having to collect the crib note from the bathroom.
“There has certainly been teacher and principal complicity to allow candidates in the exam room to have access to answers prepared by teachers,” the report states.
There is evidence that learners were assisted while they were in the exam room
— 23-page provisional report
The cellphones of pupils implicated in copying, as well as the device used by the teacher from Dlumana High, will be analysed by a forensic IT specialist who will be appointed by the department, the report says.
“It is expected that from the information that can be retrieved from the cellphones, additional information relating to the extent of this irregularity will be obtained.”
Implicated pupils would be summoned to hearings next month to “be given a chance to defend themselves”.
Some of the report’s recommendations to Umalusi were that:
- A principal be charged for colluding with a life sciences teacher by allowing him to serve as a deputy chief invigilator during the writing of the life sciences question paper;
- Principals and teachers who invigilated exams on subjects they taught be slapped with disciplinary charges because that is against the rules;
- Invigilators and chief invigilators who flouted the rules and elected to enable copying be charged in accordance with the Employment of Educators Act;
- Resident monitors at exam centres who did not carry out their responsibilities be charged for dereliction of duty; and
- The investigation task team work closely with the labour unit in Mpumalanga so that disciplinary action against the suspended teacher from Dlumana High can be finalised.
There has certainly been teacher and principal complicity to allow candidates in the exam room to have access to answers prepared by teachers
— Investigators
The report states that investigative marking of the maths paper 1 revealed that candidates “were complicit and similar in answering questions in the same random order, not necessarily from easy questions to difficult ones”.
“Candidates attempted question 1 and 5 fully and later deleted their attempts in a similar fashion in centres like Dlumana High School where 105 candidates attempted the question a second time with higher marks and identical answers,” the report found.
The report says this suggested they were given the solutions for these questions later during the exam session.
“The marks for these questions were in some cases the highest marks obtained for the entire paper.”
In life sciences, the 17 schools that were blocked “were mostly identified with identical common errors”.
The results of candidates writing history at Mhlangana High School were blocked due to identical responses to interpretative questions.
“The assumption is that the candidates were sitting in positions that allowed them access to each other’s answer scripts.”
Pupils at five schools were implicated in cheating in maths literacy, where irregularities included answers that were exactly the same where explanations were required.
At Magigwana High School, physical science candidates were suspected of sharing information on question 9.2 of paper 1.
“An extra calculation not required in the solution of this question was observed on the candidates implicated,” the report states.
Group copying was suspected in question 1 of science paper 2 at Sokisi High because “identical wrong answers in multiple choice were found”.
The results of candidates who wrote consumer studies at Hobo Secondary, Wem Mkhuhlu School and Reti Secondary were blocked because they had identical answers in application type responses.
“It is suspected that candidates copied from crib notes that may have supposedly been passed around during the writing of the exam.”
Ten out of the 14 candidates who wrote civil technology at Eric Nxumalo Secondary were confirmed to have been involved in copying after similar incorrect answers were found.
At the same school, 20 candidates “showed definite signs of group copying and it points to candidates being assisted by means of dictation”.
“There were distinct similarities in the answers and questions not answered.”
The report stated that evidence of copying in the tourism paper was “glaring” at Mbhandule High and Elephant Private School.
“In a calculation question, most candidates used an incorrect method but surprisingly arrived at the same correct answer.”
At Lamulelani Secondary, 12 out of the 23 candidates who wrote isiZulu home language were suspected of being involved in group copying of some questions.
Basic education department spokesman Elijah Mhlanga said it was “utterly disappointing” to comment on a report that has not been publicly released.
"It is disappointing that we have come to this point seeing that there was work done to discourage cheating in the exam. Pledges were signed and commitment agreements were entered into with parents and relevant stakeholders hoping that it would help to stop irregularities of this kind. We are extremely concerned,” he said.
"The department has taken a zero-tolerance approach when it comes to exam irregularities, especially group copying. All possibilities are being considered including criminal charges against those found to be involved."
He said that depending on the severity of the offence, pupils found guilty of cheating could be barred from between one to three exam sittings.
Mpumalanga education department spokesperson Jasper Zwane said they will not hesitate to act against any official or officials involved in wrongdoing.
Umalusi spokesperson Biki Lepota said it was not yet possible to say how many pupils’ results will be blocked because “some of the investigations may continue even beyond the announcement of the results”.
“Based on what we are learning from around the world, it is extremely difficult to completely stop people from involving themselves in irregular behaviour.”
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