Durban - While there was a drastic decrease in the number of schools implicated in group copying in KwaZulu-Natal last year, the Department of Education was determined to harshly deal with those found guilty.
The number of schools accused of group copying dropped to four last year compared to 12 in 2015.
The department said it was treating the investigations as a “matter of urgency” by working to finalise the investigations.
The results of the pupils from the four schools suspected of copying are being withheld by the department.
Mthandeni Dlungwana, Education MEC, recently said although the number of implicated schools was on the decrease, group copying remained a serious cause for concern.
“Those found guilty must be punished accordingly,” said Dlungwana.
KwaZulu-Natal was counted among three provinces implicated in the group copying scandals by exams quality regulator-Umalusi.
In 2015, 58 out of the 117 centres audited by Umalusi in KwaZulu-Natal and the Eastern Cape, were found guilty of cheating
At one school last year, Umalusi had found evidence of 40 pupils who had the same answers word for word.
The National Teachers Union (Natu) spokesperson Allan Thompson blamed the department for failing to implement measures to stop group copying.
Thompson said the pupils from the schools implicated are unable to plan their future.
“These pupils are suffering and are forced to put their lives on hold and for some only to be found not guilty at the end. We urge the department to have tough measures in place so that innocent pupils do not have to suffer,” he said.
Nkosipendule Ntantala, the National Professional Teachers’ Organisation of South Africa spokesperson said the good matric results are muted by the continued group cheating.
He said cheating through question paper leaks was a reflection of the national department’s poor administration.