The results of matric pupils implicated in unauthorised early access to life sciences and agricultural sciences question papers will be blocked pending further investigations by the department of basic education.
This was announced on Tuesday by Umalusi CEO Mafu Rakometsi who was speaking during the approval of matric results by the quality assurance body.
Minister of basic education Angie Motshekga is expected to announce the matric results on Thursday.
Rakometsi said the quality assurance has approved the release of the 2021 national examination results as there were no systematic irregularities reported that compromised the integrity of the exam.
“However Umalusi notes the incidents of unauthorised, early access to question papers detected at some of the examination centres in KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng. Specifically, life sciences and agricultural sciences papers were the affected subjects in those centres. This practice can potentially compromise the integrity of examinations if it is not addressed decisively,” Rakometsi said.
He said there are severe consequences for those found guilty of such criminal activities, regardless of whether they are pupils, teachers or officials.
“Similarly, isolated incidents of group copying continue to plague the national examination system. These malpractices do not augur well for our examination system and the education system in general,” he said.
Rakometsi said regardless of the challenges presented by Covid-19, Umalusi’s quality assurance process focused on the external moderation of question papers for all subjects, learning areas, and instructional offerings across all qualifications.
“Umalusi has taken note of the evidence-based reports on interventions and improvement strategies implemented by all assessment bodies, including the department of basic education and the positive impact of these on the overall assessment system as well as on teaching and learning.
“It is pleasing to see a marked improvement in the overall quality of question papers submitted by assessment bodies as more papers are approved after the first or second submission to external moderators,” he said
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