A King William’s Town village school has been named as one of more than 58 schools around the country caught in a suspected cheating scandal.
Nowawe High School in Tshabo near King William’s Town, Sovuka Sikhanye High in Queenstown, Gxaba Senior Secondary in Libode, Khanya Private School in Mthatha and Mathumbu Senior Secondary in Dutywa are five Eastern Cape schools being investigated.
The Sunday Times yesterday reported that cheating had taken place in seven of the country’s nine provinces, with the Eastern Cape and KwaZulu-Natal the worst offenders.
A team of senior officials from the national department of education’s quality assurance council, Umalusi, and provincial and national education officials have been tasked to look into the allegations.
Eastern Cape department of education spokesman Loyiso Pulumani confirmed that the investigations were in progress and that of 15 marking centres implicated, three had already been totally cleared.
The Daily Dispatch yesterday visited Nowawe where school governing body chairman Mlulami Nziweni said it was shocking to learn that the school had been included on the list of alleged cheaters, but welcomed the investigations.
“It is surprising and shocking to hear that our school is one of those which has been found to have cheated.
“We are sure that our learners were strictly monitored during the exams but any investigation that can assist us to find out what happened is welcomed,” said Nziweni.
Earlier last week Umalusi revealed that that the 2014 Matric results, to be announced today by Minister of Education Angie Motshekga, will be withheld from some schools in the Eastern Cape and KwaZulu-Natal.
Umalusi’s chief executive Mafu Rakometsi said markers found that pupils from those schools had given the same correct and incorrect answers.
“It’s clear that a teacher or a supervisor was dictating answers to pupils at the affected schools,” said Rakometsi.
Despite this, Umalusi said cheating allegations only affected 2% of marking centres around the country. The affected subjects were maths, economics and business studies.
Nowawe matriculant, Sinovuyo Nyamana, 19, said she was shocked to learn of the allegations. “There were invigilators in our centre all the time. There was no way that we could have cheated.”
Nyamana said matriculants from the school had studied in groups in the lead-up to the exams.
“It was common for most of us to get the same answers, I don’t understand this,” said Nyamana.
Another matriculant Sipho Sonkononkono, 18, who wrote maths and physical science, dismissed the allegations.
“We are a rural school that cannot take part in any cheating. We are not sure about the accuracy of Umalusi investigations but we are sure we will be cleared on this,” he said.
Attempts to obtain comment from the school’s principal, BV Nair, were unsuccessful. — bonganif@dispatch.co.za
Village school named as one of the cheats
Nowawe High School in Tshabo near King William’s Town, Sovuka Sikhanye High in Queenstown, Gxaba Senior Secondary in Libode, Khanya Private School in Mthatha and Mathumbu Senior Secondary in Dutywa are five Eastern Cape schools being investigated.
The Sunday Times yesterday reported that cheating had taken place in seven of the country’s nine provinces, with the Eastern Cape and KwaZulu-Natal the worst offenders.
A team of senior officials from the national department of education’s quality assurance council, Umalusi, and provincial and national education officials have been tasked to look into the allegations.
Eastern Cape department of education spokesman Loyiso Pulumani confirmed that the investigations were in progress and that of 15 marking centres implicated, three had already been totally cleared.
The Daily Dispatch yesterday visited Nowawe where school governing body chairman Mlulami Nziweni said it was shocking to learn that the school had been included on the list of alleged cheaters, but welcomed the investigations.
“It is surprising and shocking to hear that our school is one of those which has been found to have cheated.
“We are sure that our learners were strictly monitored during the exams but any investigation that can assist us to find out what happened is welcomed,” said Nziweni.
Earlier last week Umalusi revealed that that the 2014 Matric results, to be announced today by Minister of Education Angie Motshekga, will be withheld from some schools in the Eastern Cape and KwaZulu-Natal.
Umalusi’s chief executive Mafu Rakometsi said markers found that pupils from those schools had given the same correct and incorrect answers.
“It’s clear that a teacher or a supervisor was dictating answers to pupils at the affected schools,” said Rakometsi.
Despite this, Umalusi said cheating allegations only affected 2% of marking centres around the country. The affected subjects were maths, economics and business studies.
Nowawe matriculant, Sinovuyo Nyamana, 19, said she was shocked to learn of the allegations. “There were invigilators in our centre all the time. There was no way that we could have cheated.”
Nyamana said matriculants from the school had studied in groups in the lead-up to the exams.
“It was common for most of us to get the same answers, I don’t understand this,” said Nyamana.
Another matriculant Sipho Sonkononkono, 18, who wrote maths and physical science, dismissed the allegations.
“We are a rural school that cannot take part in any cheating. We are not sure about the accuracy of Umalusi investigations but we are sure we will be cleared on this,” he said.
Attempts to obtain comment from the school’s principal, BV Nair, were unsuccessful. — bonganif@dispatch.co.za
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