Question No. 1441
Dr JC Kloppers-Lourens (Democratic Alliance) to ask the Minister of Basic Education:
(1) Whether the investigation regarding the leaking of the five 2009 national senior certificate question papers in Mpumalanga has been completed; if not, (a) why not, (b) when is it envisaged to be completed and (c) when will the findings be made available; if so, (i) what are the outcomes of the investigation, (ii) how many officials were involved, (iii) what steps were taken against each of them and (iv) what is the extent of the damages both (aa) nationally and (bb) provincially because of the leaking of the question papers (aaa) in monetary terms and (bbb) person hours;
(2) Whether any precautions have been put in place to prevent future leaking of question papers; if not, why not; if so, what are the relevant details?
Reply:
1. (a) (b) (c) (i)(ii)(iii)
The investigation of this matter has been instituted at three different levels. The Department of Basic Education conducted an investigation that focused on the administrative and professional breaches, while the South African Police Service (SAPS) conducted the criminal investigation.
In addition, the Hawks have embarked on a more extensive investigation of the ongoing history of examination irregularities in the province. The investigation by the Department of Basic Education was completed in December 2009 and a detailed report was compiled.
This investigation revealed that the security systems relating to the storage of question papers in the Examination unit in the Mpumalanga province was grossly inadequate. The management of the electronic versions of the question papers was not sufficiently controlled and this compromised the question papers in mathematics, physical science and accounting.
The decision was taken to replace the five leaked question papers and in addition, the minister announced that the examination and assessment administration would, from 7 January 2010 be managed by the Department of Basic Education.
The Mpumalanga Department of Education has further, instituted disciplinary measures against staff implicated in this matter. The criminal investigation by the South African Police Services is still continuing and at least 13 persons were arrested and have appeared in court. The case has been adjourned until further notice.
1. (aa)(bb)(aaa)(bbb)
The estimated cost to replace the five leaked papers across all nine provinces totals R8.258.million. This includes printing, packing and distribution of the replaced question papers. It is not possible to quantify the damages in terms of person hours, given that this exercise involved staff at the Department of Basic Education, involved in the final quality assurance of the replaced question papers, the nine provincial head office staff, involved in the printing and packing of question papers, and the district office staff, involved in the distribution of the question papers.
2. A team of senior officials from the Department of Education are currently stationed in the province and are overseeing the examination processes in the province. Their focus is to establish rigorous systems and processes for the administration of examinations in the province and to train the officials in the province to manage and administer these systems. All question papers are now printed and packed by the Department of Basic Education in Pretoria.
The Department of Basic Education has also developed norms and standards for the handling of national question papers. These norms and standards now constitute the benchmark for security and management of question papers in the province.
All Provincial Education Departments have been requested to review their security systems and procedures regarding the handling of national question papers in the light of the norms and standards prescribed by the Department of Basic Education.
To ensure strict compliance, the Department of Basic Education will conduct an intensive audit of the security systems in each provincial education departments in June and July 2010 as part of monitoring the state of readiness of provincial education departments to conduct the national senior certificate examinations of 2010.
Issued by: Department of Basic Education
14 May 2010
Source: Department of Education (http://www.education.gov.za/)
