Hearings into matric cheating ‘going well’, with team set to finalise inquiry
by Nce Mkhize,
2015-01-22 12:31:00.0
SOME of the more than 5,300 matric candidates whose results have been withheld will be allowed to rewrite their examinations, others who are cleared of cheating will be allowed to enrol at university and others found guilty will be barred from writing matric examinations for three years.
Teachers and principals found guilty of instigating, or aiding and abetting pupils to participate in group copying will face disciplinary hearings and could receive sentences ranging from suspension or being fired to being banned for life from holding a position in the education system.
This was the warning from Basic Education Minister Angie Motshekga as she visited several schools in KwaZulu-Natal on Thursday.
In December last year, Umalusi — the Council for Quality Assurance in General and Further Education and Training — withheld results in 28 examination centres in KwaZulu-Natal, 16 in the Eastern Cape, six centres in Gauteng, two in Mpumalanga, and one each in the Western Cape, North West and Northern Cape, and investigated them for cheating and irregularities. The KwaZulu-Natal centres under investigation have since been reduced to 19.
Hearings have been set up where pupils are being questioned by teams of investigators in KwaZulu-Natal and the Eastern Cape over alleged cheating.
Elijah Mhlanga, Ms Motshekga’s spokesman, said the hearings have been "going well" so far and the investigating team will conclude its work this week and start compiling its reports and recommendations for the department and Umalusi.
"We don’t want to preempt these investigations but people will get different punishments. Those students who are cleared would get their results so that they can go and register at higher education institutions; others who participated but did not instigate it would get a chance to rewrite the examination; and others who knowingly participated in group copying would be barred for three years," he said.
Mpikashaya High, in Umsinga in the KwaZulu-Natal midlands, is one of the 19 schools in the province whose results have been withheld.
On Wednesday angry parents stormed the school, demanding that teachers who helped the pupils to copy be fired. Parents accused the teachers of helping pupils to copy for three successive years.
The situation was resolved only after education officials intervened and told parents that their complaints were under investigation.
KwaZulu-Natal police spokesman Maj Thulani Zwane said they deployed officers to the school and other education hotspots in the province.
EMBARRASSED: Matric pupils at the Gxaba Secondary School in Ngqeleni, in the Eastern Cape, hide their faces from the camera last week after their school was named as being one of those under investigation for allegedly being implicated in group cheating. Picture: THE TIMES
SOME of the more than 5,300 matric candidates whose results have been withheld will be allowed to rewrite their examinations, others who are cleared of cheating will be allowed to enrol at university and others found guilty will be barred from writing matric examinations for three years.
Teachers and principals found guilty of instigating, or aiding and abetting pupils to participate in group copying will face disciplinary hearings and could receive sentences ranging from suspension or being fired to being banned for life from holding a position in the education system.
This was the warning from Basic Education Minister Angie Motshekga as she visited several schools in KwaZulu-Natal on Thursday.
In December last year, Umalusi — the Council for Quality Assurance in General and Further Education and Training — withheld results in 28 examination centres in KwaZulu-Natal, 16 in the Eastern Cape, six centres in Gauteng, two in Mpumalanga, and one each in the Western Cape, North West and Northern Cape, and investigated them for cheating and irregularities. The KwaZulu-Natal centres under investigation have since been reduced to 19.
Hearings have been set up where pupils are being questioned by teams of investigators in KwaZulu-Natal and the Eastern Cape over alleged cheating.
Elijah Mhlanga, Ms Motshekga’s spokesman, said the hearings have been "going well" so far and the investigating team will conclude its work this week and start compiling its reports and recommendations for the department and Umalusi.
"We don’t want to preempt these investigations but people will get different punishments. Those students who are cleared would get their results so that they can go and register at higher education institutions; others who participated but did not instigate it would get a chance to rewrite the examination; and others who knowingly participated in group copying would be barred for three years," he said.
Mpikashaya High, in Umsinga in the KwaZulu-Natal midlands, is one of the 19 schools in the province whose results have been withheld.
On Wednesday angry parents stormed the school, demanding that teachers who helped the pupils to copy be fired. Parents accused the teachers of helping pupils to copy for three successive years.
The situation was resolved only after education officials intervened and told parents that their complaints were under investigation.
KwaZulu-Natal police spokesman Maj Thulani Zwane said they deployed officers to the school and other education hotspots in the province.
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