Question NW2601 to the Minister of Basic Education
13 September 2018 - NW2601
Tshwaku, Mr M to ask the Minister of Basic Education
(a) What is the total number of matric results at Mashiyamahle High School that have not been released by (i) the school and (ii) her department in the (aa) 2014, (bb) 2015, (cc) 2016 and (dd) 2017 academic years, (b) what are the reasons that the results have not been released and (c) on what date will her department release the results?
Reply:
a) Mashiyamahle High School was implicated in group copying in 2014 and the examination protocol in terms of results that are compromised due to an irregularity is to withhold the results in subjects that are irregular and conduct a full investigation and a hearing so that a decision can be made on culpability. Hence, in the case of:
(aa) 2014: 106 candidates did not receive their complete results
(bb) 2015: All candidates received their results
(cc) 2016: All candidates received their results
(dd) 2017: 12 candidates were found to be guilty of an irregularity in Mathematical Literacy and their results in Mathematical Literacy were nullified, but the results in the other subjects were released.
b) In the case of 2014 candidates, on 9 June 2015, an investigative team comprising officials from the Provincial Education Department (PED), Department of Basic Education (DBE) and Umalusi arrived at the school to conduct the investigations, after having notified the school. The officials were taken hostage by the parents and learners and this later became violent and resulted in officials’ cars being stoned and their valuables stolen. Departmental officials had to escape from the school, through a hole in the fence and were escorted out of the area by the Police. Subsequently, repeated attempts were made to serve notices on the implicated candidates, inviting them to a hearing and there has been no response. The school engaged the services of a lawyer and this has also contributed to the delay. The Department, approached two local Radio Stations and a local newspaper to publicise a request for the learners implicated in the 2014 examination irregularity at the Mashiyamahle school, to report to the school principal, to facilitate the hearings. The principal subsequently responded that there were no responses.
c) The DBE and Umalusi met with a group of parents and learners from the school on Friday, 24 August 2018, and it was agreed that the learners continued refusal to participate in the hearings has delayed the finalisation of this matter, and given that the learners have in a sense self-imposed a sanction on themselves for the four year period, the results of those candidates that wrote the supplementary examination in 2015, in the subjects that they were implicated, will have these results combined with the uncompromised results of 2014 and released to the candidates on 31 August 2018. Unfortunately, this arrangement to provide the combined, uncompromised results to the candidates was disrupted by a group of candidates that insisted on being provided with their full results of the 2014 NSC examination. The Department has subsequently agreed to have the results made available at the Illembe district office and those candidates who wish to collect the results can do so. The availability of the results at the Illembe district will be published in the local newspapers and the local radio stations.