Teachers’ union, Sadtu, says it will head to court on Monday to seek an urgent interdict to challenge the Basic Education Department’s decision that matric learners must rewrite the leaked exam papers. Minister Angie Motshekga announced on Friday that learners would rewrite Mathematics paper two and Physical Science paper two on December 15 and 17, respectively.
An employee of a Johannesburg-based company contracted by the department to print matric exam papers has been arrested for the leak and is currently out on bail.
Sadtu’s Mugwena Maluleke says the fact that 195 out of 391 000learners might have accessed the leaked exam papers cannot justify the decision that all learners must rewrite.
“We have made the department aware of our intention to lodge an urgent court application to interdict this particular decision. It is not based on evidence; it is not scientific perception. We are working with students and parents to ensure they support this action.”
The Basic Education Department Spokesperson, Elijah Mhlanga, says they are ready to defend the decision in court.
“Nobody knows right now how far the paper has gone. As a result of that, you cannot say you will localise the rewriting. You localise it where because you do not know? Even the Hawks has said it will take time for a determination to be made as where it has been and where it has not been, who received it and how did not receive it. Until then, we remain in the dark in terms of the extent of the spread of the leaked question papers.”
