With schools having reopened, and the first set of matric results being less than 24 hours away from release, the 2023 academic year is finally being set in swing. However, among these developments, Umalusi have also come out issuing claims of cheating being detected among a handful of final matric exams.
Nevertheless, despite these cheating concerns, matric learners uninvolved with the cheating can rest assured that the actions of very few will not delay the schedule of release for their long-awaited results. However, the matter of cheating which involves not only students, but teachers and officials alike, is said to still be under serious investigation.
These cheating concerns seem to be coming largely from the Mpumalanga province, where learners are currently being investigated.
There has been mention of payment allegedly being involved in the cheating, wherein some invigilators and learners have been implicated as having worked together in cheating schemes.
In an interview conducted by eNCA, National Professional Teachers' Organisation of South Africa (Naptosa’s) Executive Director, Basil Manuel, shared his thoughts and concerns about the recurring instances of cheating being found during matric final exams.
Manuel states his belief that both the learners and teachers should suffer the consequences of their actions.
In response to people saying that the learners should be given second-chances due to their age, Manuel mentions that these students, who are now young adults, and their potentially involved parents, are all culpable.
Although he does not believe in giving the learners permanent punishment for their wrongdoings, he does believe in the necessity for them to also be held fully accountable.
Manuel is also of the belief that the implicated students and teachers should be exposed, without having to drag the schools and the other innocent students and teachers, through the mud alongside them.
He further raises concern over the growing sophistication of cheating methods being employed by learners and teachers, and the lack of development in the surveillance and prevention methods in comparison.
Manuel, however, does believe that a lot is being done in the detection and avoidance of cheating, but that even in spite of these efforts, one cannot account for the integrity of many thousands of students and teachers.
As a solution, he suggests a need “to adapt our systems to all the new methodologies out there, so that we stay on top of the prevention and not only look at it after something bad has happened”.
Furthermore, despite his complete condemnation of the teachers who participated in the cheating, he does hope for fair and just investigation.
He shares that if the teachers regrettably end up being revealed as members of the Naptosa union, then “they are entitled to [Naptosa] representation and they must be treated fairly too because we want the outcome to be credible”.
Still, if they are indeed found guilty, they are willing to take the necessary steps so as to not condone, nor be associated with these wrongdoings.
