GROUP copying, fake certificate fraudsters arrested, and question paper printing errors were some of the issues highlighted by the Umalusi council on Monday, 15 January, during the pronouncement on the 2023 end of year National Exam Results briefing.
The briefing happens just three days before the eagerly awaited release of the 2023 National Exam Results on Friday, 19 January.
More than 900 candidates face anxiety as they've been caught in group copying.
According to Umalusi CEO Mafu Rakometsi, 945 National Senior Certificate candidates were identified in group copying.
Of that total, he said 763 cases were detected in KZN and 164 in Mpumalanga.
Rakometsi said these irregularities and dishonesty during the examinations are considered unresolved issues which will be investigated to give a clear indication of those who are guilty and innocent.
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"Results of those pupils identified to have participated in group copying will be blocked by the Department of Basic Education pending the outcome of the DBE investigations and verification by Umalusi," he said
In other pressing concerns, Rakometsi confirmed that at least 11 suspects have been arrested by the SAPS for selling fake certificates.
Concerns also arose about printing errors on question papers, translation quality issues, and the introduction of new poems and short stories in the exam paper.
To mitigate the possible impact of the above errors on performance on candidates, questions concerned were excluded from the marking process and the marks achieved upscaled using conversion tables.
Rakometsi said despite load shedding, community protests, and cheating not negatively impacting examination integrity, a significant number of candidates wrote exams in unaccredited private centres. Initially facing result withholding, Umalusi and assessment bodies corrected the situation.
Chairman of the Council of Umalusi, Professor Yunus Ballim, shared that 898 520 candidates underwent the 2023 NSC exams, with 717 377 being full-time and 181 143 part-time candidates.
