Grade 12 math exam papers don’t arrive at Kempies and Jeugland
A concession was granted to provide additional time to those learners delayed by the matter, says department
Grade 12 learners at several Afrikaans High Schools, including Hoërskool Kempton Park and Jeugland, did not receive their math papers on time on Friday morning.
Schools were forced to make copies themselves from papers sent to them by schools which did receive exam papers from Gauteng Department of Education.
“As we are not allowed to open the boxes with exam papers prior to the learners starting to write, we went into the hall and when we opened the boxes, there were no examination papers,” said Roelof Burger, principal of Hoërskool Kempton Park.
“We didn’t know what had happened and where the papers were.”
Burger told Express learners started writing an hour later after the school managed to get a copy of the paper and made copies.
“Hoërskool Brandwag in Benoni experienced a similar problem but fortunately the district later delivered the paper to them and they could send us a copy,” he explained.
“We had to print it and make copies to ensure our learners write their examination. This was really upsetting as it put a lot of strain on the learners. Mathematics is challenging as it is and adding this frustration was a big strain on the learners.”
According to Steve Mabona, spokesperson for Gauteng Department of Education, there were challenges with Afrikaans papers.
“The department acknowledges there were challenges today regarding the Afrikaans mathematics question papers in some schools in Ekurhuleni, nonetheless the matter was resolved.”
Learners were kept in the hall while the staff worked to make alternative arrangements, Burger said.
“There are children who are average performers in the subject but work very hard to be ready and prepared, and there are those who aim to achieve 95 per cent as they wish to study medicine and other courses that require a good grade in mathematics. Then this happened. I am very disappointed and was worried about the effect this had on the learners.”
Mabona said: “By the time the examinations commenced, most learners were given their question papers and managed to write.
“It must be noted that a concession was granted to provide additional time to those learners delayed by the matter. We can assure that the integrity of the examinations was not compromised by this regrettable occurrence.”
“The department can apologise as much as they want but it doesn’t take away from the massive negative impact it had on the children,” added Burger.
According to parents posting on social media, various other Afrikaans schools were also affected. Jeugland was also forced to make copies, they said. The school did not respond to Kempton Express’ query.
Other schools mentioned included Brandwag, Goudrif and Hans Moore.
One parent posted Jeugland did not inform them of the delay and parents started arriving at the school when the learners were supposed to finish. A mother called Jeugland and was told the learners only started writing after 10am.
