Army, intelligence to prevent matric exam leaks
Pregnant pupils also assured of writing
The KwaZulu-Natal education department has taken extra security measures to ensure the safety of this year’s matric papers and ensure there are no leaks.
That was revealed by deputy minister of basic education Dr Reginah Mhaule during a media briefing at Ogwini Comprehensive High School in Umlazi yesterday.
Mhaule and KZN MEC for education Mbali Frazer were monitoring candidates who started their National Senior Certificate examinations with English Paper 1 yesterday.
Mhaule said they have enlisted SA’s intelligence department to ensure that the 2022 exams are not leaked. “The safety measures are in place.
“We’re working with the security cluster and even intelligence is part of the security of the papers. Even the army is on standby to help transport papers if the weather makes it impossible to do so,” she said.
“When it comes to printing, it’s [certain] individual people who use their thumbs [fingerprints] to print, so it’s not just anyone who has access to where the papers are.”
She said they were also working with law enforcement to transport examination papers to schools because the department might not have the capacity to keep the papers safe at all times.
Mhaule said she believed teachers and learners were not the ones involved in leaking papers in previous years and was confident this year would be no different.
“Our teachers took all the time to prepare the learners and now they want to see the results of all their efforts, so they cannot leak papers. Those who can do that may be somebody who is not a teacher [but] may have access to a paper and distribute it, especially on WhatsApp groups,” she said.
“These children also become angry when this happens. Most of the time when the paper has leaked, we get that information from learners themselves because they become angry. They are ready for the examinations and now somebody posts the paper on WhatsApp groups.
“Anyone who will do that will be held accountable.”
She said there was a committee to look into this, as well as “group copying”.
Frazer reiterated that the province was confident of at least an 80% pass rate in the province. She added that a pregnant matriculant would be able to write her exam.