In a bid to prevent a repeat of last year’s disastrous matric paper leaks, the department of basic education has set up a special WhatsApp hotline service for pupils to report irregularities.
A pupil who fails to report to the hotline or the school principal cases in which a question paper or parts thereof were forwarded to him/her via email, SMS, WhatsApp or any other electronic means “will be deemed as being complicit”.
The move follows last year’s leaks through WhatsApp groups of maths and physical science papers 2.
The National Senior Certificate (NSC) exams start on Wednesday, when 733,899 pupils sit for English paper 1, including 609,830 who have been registered for English first additional language. A total of 897,786 candidates, including 735,677 full-time candidates, have enrolled for the exams, the largest cohort to write since the inception of the NSC in 2008.
On Monday, the department urged parents to be “extra vigilant to ensure that learners do not resort to engaging in any activity relating to examination irregularities”.
It said it is ready to administer a credible public examination and is geared to accommodate any change that may be warranted by the current environment.
“It should be noted that despite the abnormal context, the class of 2021 will be subjected to the same high-quality examination that previous cohorts were subjected to, and Umalusi has confirmed that the national examination system is ready to administer the 2021 NSC examination.”
They should not be tempted to take the easy way out, but must put in the hard effort and it will be rewarded. When they do come across anything suspicious, they should report it immediately.
— Anthea Cereseto, CEO of the Governing Body Foundation
Gauteng education MEC Panyaza Lesufi said on Sunday that they are convinced they “have made the necessary arrangements so that the integrity of the NSC is not compromised”.
“As a province, we are quite convinced that we are ready and we have played our role in ensuring that all our learners get the necessary support that they need.”
His superintendent-general, Edward Mosuwe, reportedly said the 175,599 candidates enrolled for matric in the province represented “one of the greatest increases we had since the inception of the NSC in 2008”.
“It [the increase] talks to a number of things and one of them is that we are a system that also does not cull learners.” “Cull” or “gatekeeping” refers to the process of controlling the rate at which pupils progress to more advanced levels.
Anthea Cereseto, CEO of the Governing Body Foundation, said this year’s Grade 12s had two years of disruptions because of Covid-19, unlike last year’s group, which had one unsettled year.
“I certainly hope what they’ve done will get them the results they need.”
Commenting on last year’s exam leaks, she said that “some of the cheaters have actually been clever children and they could easily have done very well on their own”.
“They should not be tempted to take the easy way out, but must put in the hard effort and it will be rewarded. When they do come across anything suspicious, they should report it immediately,” she said.
“You don’t want to come back and rewrite an exam at a later date because it was compromised. The exams process is a very tight schedule and there’s no space for rewriting.”
We need to help those kids to be motivated and, if they are not writing, we need to give them the space to relax.
— Jaco Deacon, CEO of the Federation of Governing Bodies of SA Schools
Her counterpart, Jaco Deacon, CEO of the Federation of Governing Bodies of SA Schools, said parents and communities should look after matrics in the next six weeks because “it’s a very long exam”.
“We need to help those kids to be motivated and, if they are not writing, we need to give them the space to relax.”
Deacon said there was “sometimes negativity about the exams, their quality and the 30% pass mark, but now is not the time to talk about it”.
“It’s the learners’ time to shine, so let’s put those arguments on the table for next year. For now, let’s do everything in our power to help motivate them.”
He said load-shedding could have a negative impact on the exams as “most schools don’t have good natural lighting and really depend on electricity”.
“Hopefully, load-shedding will not have an influence and will be managed,” Deacon said.
The exams, which end on December 7, will be written at 6,326 public exam centres, comprising mainly government schools; 526 independent centres, or private schools; and 326 designated centres.
Marking of matric papers is scheduled to be completed by December 22 and basic education minister Angie Motshekga will announce the results on January 20.
The department of basic education’s exam WhatsApp hotline is 069 335 2818 and information provided will be treated confidentially.
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