File picture: Michael Walker
PRETORIA - The unsolvable question on the Grade 12 maths paper 2 exam will be excluded from the marking process.
Department of Basic Education (DBE) spokesperson Elijah Mhlanga said the question paper will now be marked out of 143 and the mark will be upscaled to 150.
The decision comes after there was an apparent error in maths paper 2 which sparked an outcry as teachers and pupils indicated that something was wrong with question 5, which was a trigonometry question for seven marks.
After the outcry, exams quality assurer Umalusi appointed a panel to probe what led to the inclusion of the unsolvable question.
Meanwhile, the department has extended the writing of the National Senior Certificate exams to December 8 due to disruptions that took place.
The exam period started on October 31 and was initially expected to end on December 7.
The DBE said it received reports during the writing of exams that requested that some candidates be granted permission to rewrite exams in selected subjects and various reasons were provided.
Marking sessions will commence on December 10 and conclude on December 22.