The ruling by the high court in Pretoria setting aside the government’s decision to have leaked maths and science papers rewritten was fraught with errors, basic education minister Angie Motshekga said on Thursday, adding that her legal team was analysing some of these.
She did not say what action her department will take once the process to identify and analyse the errors is complete.
In a media briefing on Thursday, Motshekga hit out at the judgment, saying the government “still strongly believes” that writing the leaked papers was the “only way to address the lingering questions regarding the integrity, credibility and fairness” of the 2020 national senior certificate (NSC) examinations.
“The public must be reminded that any compromise of the NSC examinations cannot only be justified through the number of the defaulting candidates, but mainly through the extent of the compromise,” said Motshekga.
“We must state upfront that the compromise was not localised, as was the case in 2016, but it was widespread, as all provinces were implicated.”
The minister said some of the findings of the high court were “discordant with applicable basic education legislative provisions”.
“Some findings were made against the department on issues that were not even raised in the court papers. The legal team is exploring avenues that are to be used to address some of the errors we have picked up in the judgment,” said Motshekga.
The SA Democratic Teachers Union (Sadtu) and AfriForum brought the case against Motshekga and exam accreditation body Umalusi, arguing that the decision to rewrite the two papers was unprecedented. Judge Norman Davis ruled on December 11 that the minister’s decision was irrational.
Davis also found it irregular that the certification body had come to a conclusion about the exams before the scripts had even been marked.
In November, mathematics paper 2 and physical science paper 2 were leaked on WhatsApp, forcing the department to concede that “pockets of learners” had access to the papers before the exams. In its arguments in court, the department’s lawyers conceded they were struggling to determine the true extent of the leak as some of the phones used could not be traced. The Hawks are investigating the leaks and some arrests have been made.
Motshekga said the marking of NSC exam scripts will start on January 4 and end on January 22. On February 12 2021, the department will present an “irregularities report” to Umalusi and “thereafter wait for the quality assurance agency to make an announcement on the integrity, credibility and fairness of the 2020 NSC examinations”.
Motshekga, however, said they were on schedule for the release of the NSC exam results on February 22, with candidates expected to get their statement of results the next day.
Meanwhile, Motshekga said systems were in place for the safe reopening of schools in 2021, and senior managers will work during the festive season to put the 2021 school calendar plan to bed.
Schools will maintain “a delicate balance of health safety” to mitigate against Covid-19, which disrupted the 2020 school calendar, which ended on December 15.
The pandemic led to the department implementing online teaching, phased-in reopening of schools and rotational attendance by pupils to ensure adherence to social-distancing rules.
This led to some stakeholders and politicians, including One SA Movement leader Mmusi Maimane, calling for the academic year to be cancelled.
Motshekga said the department will implement annual teaching plans in all grades from 2021 to 2023 to recover learning losses and ensure the effect of further disruptions were kept to a minimum.
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