UPDATE: Exam papers rewritten after rumours of leak

The Department of Education has confirmed reports that Grade 10 and Grade 11 learners across the province were forced to discontinue two Life Orientation papers on Friday following allegations that the paper had been leaked.
Departmental spokesperson Sam Makondo on Monday confirmed that they had to discontinue the initial exam papers after claims of leakage.
Makondo indicated that they learnt about the allegation through a person who claimed to be a parent and wished to remain anonymous. He reiterated that the whistle-blower claimed that there was a person who had a Grade 10 paper. According to Makondo, the department took a decision not to take the information for granted and discontinued the paper in question including the one for Grade 11 although it was not mentioned in the claims.
He added that they made available the back-up question papers which are always accessible in cases such as this one. Unfortunately the person who made the claim has thus far not come forward with information that will allow the department to investigate the matter.
Makondo concluded by saying they were glad that they had acted in time in the interest of all learners, whether or not there was such a leakage. By the time of going to print Makondo could not tell which circuits were affected and if whether a criminal case was opened with the Police.
Various principals in the Pietersburg circuit voiced their frustration that learners had to be stopped halfway through the exam after the circuit manager informed them that the paper had been leaked. Learners had to wait for at least 20 minutes for new question papers to be printed at the schools’ cost.
“This inconvenienced our learners. I was also frustrated as the head of the school. Learners invest a lot of their time to prepare for the exams hence such incidents affect them negatively,” one said.

Story: ENDY SENYATSI
>>endy@observer.co.za