Matriculants in EC pledge not to cheat

EASTERN Cape matriculants have made a solemn commitment not to cheat during their final year exams, while the department of education said they had put in place all security measures to ensure no exam papers are leaked.

More stringent invigilating will be enforced.

The final-year exams start on Monday, with computer applications technology assessment (CAT).

About 200 matriculants from nine schools in the province signed a pledge on behalf of the 105 000 full-time and part-time matriculants in the province, committing themselves to uphold the principles of honesty and integrity in the 2017 final exams.

The pledging ceremony, attended by senior officials from the department of education and teacher union leaders, was held yesterday at St Thomas Private School in King William’s Town.

The provincial acting chief director for examination and assessment, Mzimhle Mabona, said they had put in place strict measures, especially at centres that had been identified as high risk when it came to cheating.

Mabona said 36 public schools out of 5 500 schools and a number of independent schools had a history of irregularities and had been identified as high risk schools.

“We will be placing resident monitors at these schools who will monitor the exam from start to finish,” he said.

The most recent cheating scandal was two years ago when Nowawe High in King William’s Town was named as one of the schools in the country implicated in cheating.

Reading the message of support, the department’s deputy-director general, Ray Tywakadi, encouraged the matriculants to give the exams their best efforts. — arethal@dispatch.co.za