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EDUCATION officials were on Monday night locked in meetings discussing the alleged leaking of yet another matric exam paper, this time physical spcience paper 2.
“We can’t comment yet because we are in a meeting discussing the issue. A statement will be issued,” said Basic Education Department spokesperson Elijah Mhlanga.
This after it emerged that the physical science paper 2 was allegedly leaked in a WhatsApp group, hours before the exam commenced.
The alleged leak comes after the department had confirmed last week that maths paper 2 was also leaked a week ago.
An investigation by the department revealed eight of the nine provinces were affected by the maths paper 2 leak. Initially it appeared only to be Grade 12s from Limpopo and Gauteng who encountered the leaked maths paper.
It was discovered after Mhlanga received an e-mail at about 1.37am last Monday from a university student in Gauteng who runs an NGO providing support to pupils.
The student had the full exam paper and reported that four pupils were asking to be assisted with answers in a section of the paper, but he refused.
The allegedly leaked science paper was flagged by a maths and science teacher on Twitter, who shared screenshots that he said were shared with him by one of his pupils from Tembisa, Johannesburg.
He said: “A learner sent me a screenshot of the paper which clearly shows the time it was distributed which was 5am. She said she had received it from a WhatsApp group but deleted it. I asked her what WhatsApp group, but she did not want to clarify.”
He has since deleted the post from Twitter and said he was co-operating with the department.
Meanwhile teachers’ unions have expressed empathy and concern for matric pupils
The South African Democratic Teachers Union (Sadtu) said they were saddened by the events.
“This affects the credibility of the examination, after all the work done to prepare. We know this year was such a hectic year and now another leak,” Sadtu spokesperson Nomusa Cembi said.
“We are asking the department to do all they can to ensure security of examination papers.
“They should find the culprit because it’s unfair that learners have to re-write and go through that anxiety all over again.”
Cebi said the person responsible for the leaks “should suffer the consequences”.
The National Professional Teachers’ Organisation of South Africa (Naptosa) said: “It is an unfortunate situation because it seems now that we have people that are hell-bent on leaking the exam papers and ruining the chances of matrics for this year. It means another investigation has to be done to establish which provinces got the paper to determine if the paper will be re-written or not.
“It is Irresponsible for people to ignorantly spoil the chances of matrics for 2020.
“Despite the pressure of preparing for exams under the difficult conditions of Covid-19, learners have to deal with a leaked paper now.”