Schools query 'matric errors'
2008-01-02 19:03
Nelspruit - Schools across Mpumalanga are querying suspected errors in their matric results, with at least one school refusing to release any results at all until irregularities have been resolved.
Authorities at Ben Mashego High School in Zoeknog village near Bushbuckridge confirmed on Wednesday that they were withholding results after discovering that 64 of 96 matriculants at the school were incorrectly recorded as having failed to write their Sepedi exam.
"We've been told not to speak about it, but Sepedi is the mother-tongue for these learners. So, if they are recorded as failing to write the exam, they're also recorded as failing matric. That's impossible, because we physically saw them all write the exam.
"Another 21 students were also failed - meaning that just 11 learners passed - but we're not certain if this is also due to mistakes at the exam centre," said a senior teacher at the school, who declined to be named for fear of persecution by provincial authorities.
Similar apparent errors were reported at Mafemani Nxumalo High School in Thulamahashe, Mahuvo High School in Allendale, and Babina-Tau High School in Cottondale.
Language exams
Teachers at the schools also declined to be named but all report apparent oversights, with students incorrectly marked as missing their Xitsonga, Sepedi, and Siswati language exams.
Teachers also report discrepancies between the results released to the media by national education authorities, and those sent to schools by the Mpumalanga education department.
"Rural learners are under a lot of pressure to pass their exams, so they can go to university and uplift their families.
"Telling people that they have failed, on the basis of possibly wrong results, could lead to suicides or other drastic impacts. It is safer to simply withhold the results until we have absolute clarity," said a teacher.
The education department's Ehlanzeni District Office director Mfana Lushaba refused to confirm or deny the errors on Wednesday, but officials in his office said an investigation had been launched.
The probe will apparently include similar problems at one of Mpumalanga's largest schools, Lowveld High School, after at least one star 'straight A' learner also received results claiming they had failed after failing to write their exams.
'No comment'
Mpumalanga education spokesperson Hlahla Ngwenya initially confirmed that schools had complained and that an investigation had been launched, but changed his stance on Wednesday afternoon to insist that the department had no information and could therefore not comment.
He declined to check directly with the schools where problems were identified, with the Ehlanzeni District Office, or with parents who were upset at the apparent errors.
"All I can say is that we will investigate any complaint, and that we will charge any education official who has tampered with marks, or committed irregularities.
"The national exam watchdog, Umalusi, hasn't detected any significant irregularities in Mpumalanga, so we are happy that our results are accurate," said Ngwenya.
He advised learners or their parents who had evidence of errors to urgently phone the department on (013) 766 5385.
Mpumalanga education MEC Siphosezwe Masango meanwhile confirms that the province's matric pass rate dropped by 4,5%, from a 65,3% pass rate in 2006 to a 60,8% pass rate in 2007.
Masango blamed a major teacher strike and an increase in rural candidates at under-equipped schools as some of the reasons for the significant drop is pass rates.