• Reports indicate that WhatsApp groups were used to share exam questions while the 2022 matric exams were ongoing.
• It is alleged that teachers were charging up to R1 500 for students to join a WhatsApp group where they would receive exam answers.
• The Department of Basic Education says it is probing these allegations.

As the matric exams reach their end, new reports are emerging that possible cheating has taken place across a series of WhatsApp groups.

The scandal was first reported by the Sunday Times (paywall), which alleges that over 370 pupils in Mpumalanga were involved in the cheating.

Reportedly, matric pupils on certain WhatsApp groups were paying teachers up to R1 500 to share answers during exam sessions. One of these groups was called “Road to Varsity” where teachers provided answers to questions in the mathematics and physical science exams.

This year’s exams featured a nearly impossible question in Mathematics Paper 2, one that the department said could be excluded from marking if an error was discovered in the question’s formulation.

WhatsApp’s highly encrypted nature makes it an excellent place to privately organise clandestine activity, such as cheating on exams. The only people who would know of the groups would be those that took part or those that told other students about the groups.

It is believed that there were at least two other groups involved in the alleged cheating. Apparently, the students would then receive the answers through snuck-in phones or during toilet breaks.

Media24 alleges that some teachers even passed along crib notes in the exam halls and told students to keep a second phone, since students are asked to hand in their mobile devices.

Department of Basic Education (DBE) spokesperson Elijah Mhlanga elaborated that it was an anonymous whistleblower that first tipped the department on its exam cheating hotline.

The tipster claimed that teachers were charged R1 500 for pupils to join the WhatsApp groups, each.

“The department is investigating the allegations which we take very seriously, based on the information that we have gathered in the preliminary investigation,” Mhlanga told JacarandaFM.

“It does confirm that there is something wrong that might be taking place that needs further investigation. ”

Mhlanga added that students found to be involved in any irregularities could be banned from taking exams for a year or two or they will have to rewrite, depending on the severity. Teachers found to have been complicit in cheating will be dismissed.

Media24, in their own report, detailed that over 1 127 Mpumalanga students had been allegedly paying teachers for answers. The department says that this number is “fake news”, but it did confirm that cheating in the province was being probed.

[MEDIA RELEASE] News24 article on examination investigations “involving six provinces@ is false and misleading. #NSC2022

@Angie_Motshekga @ReginahMhaule @HubertMweli @ElijahMhlanga @dbetvnews pic.twitter.com/MBlWDGHtsz

— Dep. Basic Education (@DBE_SA) December 12, 2022

There is no information on which other subjects were despoiled by alleged cheating attempts other than maths and physics. Life sciences is also believed to be among them.

Cheating on matric exams is not unheard of in South Africa. In 2020, some students where found to have cheated when Maths Paper 2 and Physical Sciences Paper 2 were leaked to the public ahead of the exams.

The marks for the students found to have cheated were then withheld by the department. As of time of writing, the results for the 2022 matric exams will be released on 20th January 2023.

Depending on the conclusion of the department’s probe into the matter, this date could possibly be changed, or perhaps only certain students’ marks will be withheld. A cheating scandal were teachers are soliciting monies to help pupils cheat is unheard of in South Africa at this level.

No doubt the department will ensure its due diligence in the matter.

[Image – Dima Solomin on Unsplash]