Cape Town - Western Cape Grade 12’s are knuckling down now and almost at the midpoint of their final exams period have been told to not stress about the mathematics paper 2 that was leaked hours before they were meant to sit the exam on Monday.
The National Department of Education has assured pupils and parents that they investigated the matter but the leaked exam paper could have been shared across eight provinces in a matter of hours. In a statement, the department tried to allay any fears of a rewrite and made assurance they would get to the bottom of the breach.
“The investigating team is gathering evidence and a report will be submitted shortly. The Department will enlist the support of the Law Enforcement Agencies to assist with the investigation,” the department said.
Matric pupil at Malibu High School, Jodi Rosseau, said the exam paper leak has been hard to ignore this week.
“The maths paper that was leaked makes it hard for us, because there are some of us who went into the exam room with all the amount of knowledge needed to attack this paper. This is a major bombshell dropped upon us if we have to rewrite, it makes things worse for most of us ... seriously, this is a concern for me,” said Rosseau.
Elyas Ayyoub is in Grade 12 at Bishops Diocesan College and said he was shocked when he heard the news of the exam paper leak.
“I thought oh no, but then they did announce that is was kind of under control and some of my friends then joked about how we might have to rewrite – I really hope that doesn’t happen.”
The Western Cape Education Department (WCED) would not confirm that the exam paper leaked to anyone in the province or whether learners or members of the public were under investigation in the Western Cape.
WCED spokesperson Bronagh Hammond said: “The WCED cannot comment on the mathematics paper 2 leak … We are awaiting further information from them (the Department of Basic Education).”
Hammond once again reiterated that the matric finals and the question papers have strict security measures.
“To protect the integrity of the examinations, a number of security measures are strictly adhered to. Each question paper is printed and packaged immediately so that it cannot be tampered with. No cellphones are allowed in the printing, packing and distribution areas.”
The President of The Association for Mathematics Education of South Africa Professor Rajendran Govender has called on matric pupils to remain calm and not fret at this stage about rewriting mathematics paper 2.
“None of us know which are the affected provinces, except the two announced in the media.” said Govender.
“The department has to do it’s investigation because, sometimes rumours spread. Until we get the facts on hand from the Department of Education who are doing a sophisticated investigation, I trust that system, and we just need to be patient.”
Weekend Argus