Basic education minister Siviwe Gwarube’s admission on Monday morning of a possible breach of matric results that enabled a company to offer them to pupils ahead of Tuesday’s official release for R99.90 is astounding.
Gwarube held a press conference on Monday with deputy minister Dr Makgabo Reginah Mhaule before a congratulatory breakfast session for top-performing students. She acknowledged an explanation about a platform selling “authentic matric results” to pupils was in order.
The department, which had been mum for a day, during which hundreds of matriculants applied for and received their results from Edumarks,, said the Hawks and state security had been called in to investigate.
“They have been preying on innocent pupils and siphoning money. We take this very seriously.”
While she stressed a possible breach would not affect the integrity of the results, she also said they suspect cybercrime was at play.
On Sunday, the Foundation for Education and Social Justice’s Hendrick Makaneta said they were “deeply troubled” about the potential breach of data security and a violation of learners’ right to privacy.
“Learners and their families deserve to trust that their personal information is handled with the utmost confidentiality. The sale of results, whether legitimate or not, undermines public confidence in the education system and casts doubt on the DBE’s ability to secure its systems.”
News of the possible breach affected 827,000 mainly teenagers — not counting their parents and family — who have been on a rollercoaster of emotions fuelled by controversy and legal action involving the department and the Information Regulator as they tried in vain to stop matric results from being published in newspapers.
For years the publication of matric results has been a rite of passage for pupils who gathered outside media offices or shops to celebrate their accomplishments with loved ones and school friends. .
Technology has been now used to exploit vulnerable youngsters for a quick buck.
While quality assurer Umalusi gave the green light for the release of the results, saying there were no reported systemic irregularities that might have compromised the overall credibility and integrity of the exams, the issue of the leak is huge. It, however, warned the issue of cheating remains a problem in KwaZulu-Natal and Mpumalanga.
Matric marks an important milestone that signals a transition to adulthood. For the final step in that process to have been tainted is a violation of the learners' rights.
The department owes it to the class of 2024 to punish those responsible for the leak and to ensure such an infringement will not be repeated.
The class of 2024 did spectacularly well - achieving a pass rate of 87.3% - the highest in the country's history, beating even the 2023 improvement of 82.9%, up from 80.1% in 2022 and 76.4% in 2021.
For many who have just received their results emotions will range from despair to elation. The South African Depression and Anxiety Group (Sadag), which has been actively supporting matrics through the exam process, fielded an average of 2,000 calls a day from troubled teens seeking help.
For those who didn’t perform as they wanted, who didn't get into a tertiary institution, who won’t have the money for tertiary studies and those who just didn’t pass, this will be a stressful time.
Not all pupils are playing on a level field — challenges of infrastructure, materials, teachers and other resources are compounded by violence, corruption and misuse of artificial intelligence.
Youngsters who are under stress are not just statistics, and we should all do our best to support those who need it most.
We celebrate those who have done well. We urge those who need counselling, advice or support to call Sadag on 0800 21 22 23 or the education department’s student command counselling service on 0800 428 428.
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