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Fumigation is carried out in a classroom in preparation for the opening of schools under the Level 3 closure.
- One of the exams had been leaked from one of the government printers.
- An investigation by a task force found that since the leaks were spread via WhatsApp, their full scope could not be discovered.
- The research team found that there was no widespread leakage and that the candidate scripts and the integrity of the combined exams were not compromised.
A report by the National Investigations Task Force of the Department of Basic Education concluded that last year there was no widespread leak of the Mathematics Document 2 of the National Certificate for the Elderly and of the Physical Sciences Document 2.
The investigation, which was instituted by the National Examination Irregularities Committee following reports of leaks during the exam period last year, focused on, among others, investigative scoring, verification and statistical analysis of scores.
“What emerged from the investigation was that the candidates had in fact shown that they had done the job individually, and that there was no evidence of collusion, and that the leaks had actually spread through a WhatsApp message,” the president said. of the committee, Luvuyo Bono, advocate during a briefing in Pretoria on Sunday.
READ | Government Printers Identified as Second Source of Matrix Exam Paper Leaks
Bono added that based on the evidence presented, the team found that the combined exams were not compromised and the committee was happy with the report’s findings.
The dead National Investigations Task Force Hugh Amoore said they were tasked with establishing the scope of the leaks, determining the source of the security breach and identifying candidates who had access to the leaked documents.
The full extent of the leaks could not be discovered because they were spread via WhatsApp.
Screenshot of the Matric exam leak report.
Amoore added that an investigation by the Crime Priority Investigation Directorate (Hawks) found that a breach of contracted printers from a province had occurred and the suspect involved was arrested and brought to court.
He said the department had conducted intensive audits on the distribution of both question papers and found that there were no violations during their storage and distribution.
Evidence showed that 236 math and 62 physical science candidates received screenshots prior to Test 2 exams, according to the report.
But the task force said the available evidence could not conclude the full extent of the leaks.
No evidence
The research qualification for mathematics was carried out in 116 centers and 5 612 were verified, while for physical sciences 17 centers were audited and 473 scripts were verified.
“The research brand was intended to determine unusual patterns and, in particular, to determine whether to establish whether there had been any collusion at a particular facility regarding a particular question or question papers,” Amoore said.
He added that the research’s grading process findings showed that most of the scripts were individual jobs, and the scores of those in a WhatsApp group, called “A” (a high-performing group), were high.
Candidates who were in WhatsApp group A had access to questions 6.2 and 6.4, each with five points.
Screenshot of the Matric exam leak report.
The report revealed that there were nine WhatsApp groups and they were categorized from A to I. They were out of 283 candidates and 180 were verified.
“This research qualification was subject to verification by a department team of individuals who were in specific groups. And the holders of that verification are clear that no evidence was found to suggest that these candidates benefited from prior access to the document of questions or sub questions, “said Amoore.
Suspicious candidates (those who were sent screenshots) received different ratings per question.
He added that the performances of other candidates showed evidence that further investigation was needed.
The team had also performed a statistical analysis of the number of people who wrote the two 2016 articles and found that there were no unusual patterns.
recommendations
According to the report:
- Based on the evidence we have available at this time from the research tagging and statistical analysis, it does not appear that widespread leaks have occurred.
- There has been no compromise to the integrity of the 2020 combined exam as a whole.
- The integrity of P2 Mathematics and P2 Physical Science has not been compromised overall.
The investigation concluded, although there were two serious leaks, the damage, however, was limited to a small number of candidates who had accessed the two documents before they were written.
The team recommended that it was important to finalize and conclude the case against the suspect from Government Printing Office, accused of stealing and leaking the papers.
The work team presented the report with recommendations to the Quality Assurance Council, Umalusi, last Friday.
It recommended that:
- Only in categories C and D, results will be blocked pending further investigation.
- In categories A and B, the results will be published, pending further investigation.
- In category E, the results will be published pending a school-wide investigation.
Umalusi was expected to report on the integrity of the exams on Monday.
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