Alleged cheating was averted at the Phendukani Full Service High School in Newcastle on Tuesday when an invigilator noticed an “impostor” writing a matric paper on behalf of a part-time student.
KwaZulu-Natal education MEC Mbali Frazer condemned the cheating attempt and said the matter had been reported to the police.
The department said the invigilator noticed someone else sitting on behalf of the candidate at the school, which is one of the best performing in the province.
Matriculants sat for the two-hour economics paper during the first session and foreign languages, including Arabic, French, Italian, Mandarin, modern Greek, Serbian, Spanish, Latin and Portuguese, during the second session.
“We condemn this alleged act of exam irregularity. We have worked hard to sharpen our learners for this exam and we expect these exams to be free of irregularities in keeping with the oath made by learners,” said Frazer.
“We assure the public our invigilators have been trained and will detect and deal with any irregularity [to protect] the integrity of the national senior certificate (NSC) exams. What has happened at Phendukani is a clear demonstration of this commitment.”
Last week, during a press conference on the state of readiness for the exams, the department said it had made plans to prevent cheating.
Police didn't immediately respond to media queries.
TimesLIVE
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