South African Republic : Learners Warned Against Cheating In 2022 Matric Exams

As matriculants around South Africa prepare for their final school examinations, many will feel stressed and anxious about the upcoming exams. The results they receive will affect the next step of their educational journey, however, cheating could derail their plans completely.

The 2022 National Senior Certificate (NSC) examinations are not too far away and Grade 12 learners around the country will be preparing for the crucial examination. The Department of Basic Education (DBE) has warned learners against cheating as these have long term consequences.

Chief Director for Communications and Media at the DBE Elijah Mhlanga says every year he sees learners whose lives were ruined because they cheated during their matric examinations.

This cheating can occur in several different ways. These range from individual learners taking crib notes into their examination centres to large numbers of learners involved in group coping and sharing the examinations.

Mhlanga says the department even found that in some cases of cheating, examination invigilators were involved in cheating.

He said “Please if you are in Grade 12 make sure not to get involved in cheating. It’s not good for you, it has destroyed lives. I’ve seen young people from all sorts of provinces who are yet to receive their results many years after they wrote their examination”.

During the 2021 NSC examinations Quality assurance body Umalusi noted incidents where learners in Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal had access to their examination papers before their exams.

Umalusi said the results of implicated learners were blocked to allow the DBE to investigate the circumstances around the cheating.

“It is also worth noting that there are severe consequences for those found guilty of such criminal activities, regardless of whether they are learners, teachers or officials,” explained Umalusi.

The DBE has made several resources available to assist matriculants prepare for the upcoming Grade 12 examinations.