Johannesburg – The Department of Basic Education has rejected suggestions that it may have been behind the error in the Geography Paper 2 exam, which reportedly impacted 967 matric learners.
In a terse statement on Sunday, (24 November 2024), the department said it, “wishes to clarify that it is not affected in the matter regarding an error in a matric Geography question paper”.
The department added: “The incident involves another assessment body and not the Department of Basic Education examinations”.
Earlier Sunday, education activist Hendrick Makaneta expressed “deep concern” regarding the “error in the Geography Paper 2 exam”, which he said impacted 967 matric learners.
“This incident has the potential to disrupt the integrity of the National Senior Certificate examinations and place undue stress on learners who are already navigating the challenges of their final exams,” Makaneta said.
“The National Senior Certificate examinations are a critical determinant of future opportunities for our learners and errors of this nature risk compromising both fairness and credibility.”
Makaneta said the Department of Basic Education needed to conduct a thorough investigation into the matter and ensure that urgent and effective steps were taken to mitigate the impact on the affected learners.
“We urge the department to provide clarity to all stakeholders regarding the nature of the error and the solutions being implemented.”
However, the department said it has noted a media statement in which reference is made to the Department of Basic Education National Senior Certificate examination.
“The Department of Basic Education is neither affected nor involved in this matter,” the statement said.
“No further comment will be made in this regard.”
IOL reports that in an unfortunate development candidates who sat for the Geography Paper 2, administered by the South African Comprehensive Assessment Institute, faced a “quarantine” situation after errors were identified in their question paper.
IOL reports that the mistakes, which amounted to 79 marks worth of incorrect questions, prompted immediate actions to mitigate the impact on students.
“Originally conducted on Wednesday at 85 exam centres nationwide, the blunder came to light during the reading time before the official start of the exam at 14:00,” said the IOL report.
“Chief invigilators reported discrepancies between the English and Afrikaans versions of the question paper, leading to the swift decision to confiscate the original papers and student answer scripts.
“A revised version was then printed and distributed to the affected candidates, but not without repercussions.”
