FORM V PAPERS LEAK: TEACHERS, SCHOOL ADMIN MEMBERS AMONG 10 SUSPECTS

MBABANE – Some teachers and members of a school’s administration are among 10 suspects responsible for leaking the EGCSE papers.

The over three teachers were responsible for the subjects which were leaked. Following the leakage of the Eswatini General Certificate of Secondary Education (EGCSE) papers, learners will be resitting the examination from November 27 to November 30, 2023. The papers to be re-written are Religious Education (RE) Paper I and II, Mathematics Paper III and IV, Physical Science Papers II and IV and SiSwati Paper III.  Giving an update on the preliminary investigations into the leakage, Examinations Council of Eswatini (ECESWA) Registrar Dr Mandla Dlamini said police were finalising charges to be preferred against the perpetrators.

Investigations

Dlamini stated that during investigations, the implicated teachers confessed and owned up to being the source of the leakage. He said they allegedly committed the acts as a well coordinated syndicate, with a distributor, agents and candidates. He declined to name the school where the teachers are from. Dlamini said the implicated teachers tried to cover their tracks by refraining from sharing the original examination papers and scribbling the questions and topics on pieces of paper, before making arrangements for distribution. He said they also reached out to a number of candidates across the county’s four regions, who confessed to having had access or receiving contents of some of the question papers before sitting the examination.

According to the registrar, after the teachers copied the examination questions and topics and scribbled them on pieces of paper, they then sent these to the distributor, whose role was to compile and type the examination questions and topics. He stated that the typed questions and topics were then saved as PDF files, which were then distributed to the agents within the examination centres in all the four regions of the country, for varying amounts. Dlamini said the agents were clear on their mandate, as they only sold the questions and topics to peers who were willing to pay. “Candidates who were not forthcoming with the payments were denied any chance or access to the information,” the registrar said.

Some of the papers were sold between E300 and E400 and in some instances, where candidates could not afford the fees, they formed groups and contributed varying amounts, ranging from E25 to E30 in order to get access to the examination information. During their findings, the registrar said with the SiSwati Paper III, it was proven beyond reasonable doubt that the candidates were well-guided on the topics contained in the examination paper. He added that for instance; “They were given information on the story, poem and cultural event which would appear in the examination.”

Guided

In the Religious Education Paper I and II, the candidates were also well-guided on the topics and questions that were contained in the examination paper. On the Mathematics Paper III and IV, the teachers involved also provided workings and answers over and above leaking and circulating the papers. The answers were circulated via WhatsApp. With the Physical Science Paper IV, which was an alternative to the practical paper, the registrar stated that a number of candidates had access to the confidential information that was sent to centres.
Reached for comment, Chief Police Information and Communications Officer Superintendent Phindile Vilakati confirmed that the matter was reported by ECESWA. Vilakati said investigations were still ongoing.

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