Warning to people who cheat the Matric exams in South Africa
South Africa’s National Senior Certificate (NSC) examination validation systems will catch even the most minor anomalies and bring cheaters to book, basic education minister Siviwe Gwarube has warned.
“You cannot cheat the NSC and get away with it. We will detect it, we will investigate it, and there will be consequences,” Gwarube said in a media briefing on Thursday.
Gwarube provided a report on how matric exam markers had identified an irregularity in the scripts of a small number of students, leading to the detection of a breach involving a handful of people.
The preliminary investigation uncovered that a departmental official had exfiltrated seven exam papers and marking guidelines, which they allegedly sold to another staff member with a child in Grade 12.
Gwarube said the scripts were copied to a USB drive by an employee of a Basic Education Department office where the question papers were set.
The implicated staff members have been suspended, and a criminal case has been lodged with the South African Police Service for investigation of theft of state property.
Gwarube explained that the breach was detected when markers found an unusual similarity between the answers provided by a candidate and the marking guidelines for English Home Language Paper 2.
“This triggered what we call the ‘Standard Protocols’, starting with a preliminary investigation, which confirmed that a breach had indeed occurred,” she said.
After flagging a handful of scripts for potential irregularities, the department conducted interviews with the students to find out if they had access to material they shouldn’t have before the exam.
The National Department of Education identified 26 learners in total for interviews. Gwarube said the purpose of the interviews was carefully defined and that guilt was not being assumed in any of the cases.
Further investigation revealed that the breach extended to English Home Language Papers 1, 2, and 3; Mathematics Paper 1 and 2; and Physical Sciences Paper 1 and 2.
Systems will detect the smallest breaches
Currently, the breach is limited to 26 students from seven schools in a localised area of Pretoria. Gwarube did not name the schools.
“There is no evidence of systemic, widespread breaches, and as such, we don’t expect this to affect the credibility of the NSC,” said Gwarube.
“The transparency we are ensuring today is not an announcement of a system failure. It is to demonstrate the proof of the strengths of our systems.”
Gwarube said that even though they mark around 11 million scripts, their systems can detect even small breaches of this nature.
She emphasised that only a limited number of scripts triggered their alarms, and that markers immediately escalated their observations, per their training.
“The system responded immediately and in full force, sending a clear message to the public.”
Gwarube assured that the department was not making assumptions about guilt and that each case would be individually assessed.
However, she also emphasised that the consequences for cheating and enabling cheating were severe. “We follow a zero-tolerance policy to cheating in the NSC exams,” said Gwarube.
“We have reported the incident to the South African Police Service for the criminal aspect of this case to be investigated.”
At a minimum, if found guilty, the implicated students will have their results invalidated, and they will not be allowed to retake the Matric exam until the second half of 2027.
“Those who try and cheat the system will not succeed. They will be detected,” Gwarube said.
“Any individual who attempts to manipulate the NSC exam system, whether a learner, an official, or an outsider, will be detected. Our systems are designed to pick up these irregularities.”
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