THIRTEEN Eastern Cape matric pupils were caught allegedly cheating during the final exams last year.
This was announced by education MEC Mandla Makupula at a gala dinner to award the best performing pupils at the International Convention Centre (ICC) on Tuesday night.
Makupula said despite the province’s record of having conducted credible exams since the advent of democracy, there were 13 pupils “involved in acts of dishonesty”.
“These candidates’ results have been withheld pending finalisation of investigation.” This included:
- 10 cases of candidates caught in possession of crib notes;
- A candidate caught copying using a cellphone;
- A script with different handwritings; and
- A candidate with two scripts.
Neither the identities of the pupils nor the schools at which they wrote the exams were revealed.
Makupula said overall an “efficient and credible” exam was conducted and there were no leaks of question papers.
Two schools failed to achieve a single pass, a setback from the class of 2012’s performance where there was no school without a pass in the province.
he schools which recorded a zero pass rate were Impey Siwisa High in Fort Beaufort, which had four candidates sit for exams, and Reshwa Senior Secondary School in King William’s Town with six candidates.
Announcing results per district, Makupula said:
The top performing districts were Port Elizabeth (74%); Cradock (73.5%) and East London (73.1%);
The worst performing districts were Fort Beaufort (56.6%), Mount Frere (58.8%), and Dutywa (60.8%).
Provincial education head, Mthunywa Ngonzo said the “setback” at the two schools which failed to record a pass was an indication of changes needed in the education system. —
Most universities full already
A SMALL number of places are still available for matric pupils wanting to get into university in the Eastern Cape as the majority of institutions have closed for late admissions.
Only Walter Sisulu University (WSU) has a few spaces left for students who passed maths and science.
The University of Fort Hare (UFH) and Rhodes University are no longer accepting admissions for undergraduate studies and today marks the deadline for students wanting to apply to Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University (NMMU).
WSU spokeswoman Angela Church said there were still spaces available for accounting, science, engineering and B.Ed Technical, but only for prospective students who had done well in maths and science. Church said registration would open on January 27.
NMMU spokeswoman Roslyn Baatjies said there were spaces for applications available until later today.
Baatjies said prospective students were allowed to walk in to campuses, but only those who met requirements for their programmes and who would not require tests.
UFH spokesman Lizo Phiti said the university had 2 100 spaces to admit new students for the 2014 academic year but had received approximately 14 000 applications.
“Therefore, the University of Fort Hare will not consider any walk-ins who have not applied in 2013.”
Rhodes University student
bureau manager Desiree Wicks said the university was no longer taking in undergraduate applications.
University of South Africa (Unisa) spokesman Martin Ramotshela said no new applications would be considered.
“The next application phase for the second semester of 2014 opens from April 7 to 25 this year,” he said.
Department of Higher Education and Training (DHET) spokeswoman Manana Makhanya said prospective students wanting to further their studies should use the services of a computerised system set up to assist them look for a place at a university, further education and training college or a learnership at a Sector Education and Training Authority. It can be accessed online at —
Thirteen EC matriculants in ‘cheating’ investigation
This was announced by education MEC Mandla Makupula at a gala dinner to award the best performing pupils at the International Convention Centre (ICC) on Tuesday night.
Makupula said despite the province’s record of having conducted credible exams since the advent of democracy, there were 13 pupils “involved in acts of dishonesty”.
“These candidates’ results have been withheld pending finalisation of investigation.” This included:
Neither the identities of the pupils nor the schools at which they wrote the exams were revealed.
Makupula said overall an “efficient and credible” exam was conducted and there were no leaks of question papers.
Two schools failed to achieve a single pass, a setback from the class of 2012’s performance where there was no school without a pass in the province.
he schools which recorded a zero pass rate were Impey Siwisa High in Fort Beaufort, which had four candidates sit for exams, and Reshwa Senior Secondary School in King William’s Town with six candidates.
Announcing results per district, Makupula said:
The top performing districts were Port Elizabeth (74%); Cradock (73.5%) and East London (73.1%);
The worst performing districts were Fort Beaufort (56.6%), Mount Frere (58.8%), and Dutywa (60.8%).
Provincial education head, Mthunywa Ngonzo said the “setback” at the two schools which failed to record a pass was an indication of changes needed in the education system. —
Most universities full already
A SMALL number of places are still available for matric pupils wanting to get into university in the Eastern Cape as the majority of institutions have closed for late admissions.
Only Walter Sisulu University (WSU) has a few spaces left for students who passed maths and science.
The University of Fort Hare (UFH) and Rhodes University are no longer accepting admissions for undergraduate studies and today marks the deadline for students wanting to apply to Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University (NMMU).
WSU spokeswoman Angela Church said there were still spaces available for accounting, science, engineering and B.Ed Technical, but only for prospective students who had done well in maths and science. Church said registration would open on January 27.
NMMU spokeswoman Roslyn Baatjies said there were spaces for applications available until later today.
Baatjies said prospective students were allowed to walk in to campuses, but only those who met requirements for their programmes and who would not require tests.
UFH spokesman Lizo Phiti said the university had 2 100 spaces to admit new students for the 2014 academic year but had received approximately 14 000 applications.
“Therefore, the University of Fort Hare will not consider any walk-ins who have not applied in 2013.”
Rhodes University student
bureau manager Desiree Wicks said the university was no longer taking in undergraduate applications.
University of South Africa (Unisa) spokesman Martin Ramotshela said no new applications would be considered.
“The next application phase for the second semester of 2014 opens from April 7 to 25 this year,” he said.
Department of Higher Education and Training (DHET) spokeswoman Manana Makhanya said prospective students wanting to further their studies should use the services of a computerised system set up to assist them look for a place at a university, further education and training college or a learnership at a Sector Education and Training Authority. It can be accessed online at —
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