Police on Thursday morning seized every last examination script written by this year’s Mpumalanga matrics as part of an investigation into suspected exam fraud in the province.
”We seized the scripts of all pupils, in all subjects in all schools in the province,” said police spokesperson Superintendent Izak van Zyl.
The scripts were closed off in a storeroom at the education department’s Middelburg offices at about 11am.
Van Zyl said a special team of forensic investigators from the police and Umalusi, the body that oversees examination propriety, will now sift through the papers for evidence.
The investigation comprises examinations written in the subjects of English (first language), physics, chemistry, agricultural science, business economics, geography and tourism.
Police decided to seize all scripts at once, including those for other subjects, ”because we don’t know where everything is, the scripts are all mixed up”, Van Zyl said.
Pupils at six schools are under suspicion — two in Nelspruit and one each in White River, Morgenzon, Groblersdal and Middelburg.
Hundreds of pupils could be involved, Van Zyl said.
Police launched an investigation after an examination marker reported suspected irregularities.
She said the exact same spelling mistakes were repeated on hundreds of scripts — giving rise to a suspicion that pupils had access to memoranda with the answers, which contained these errors.
Van Zyl said police are focusing on determining the origin of such memoranda.
”We are investigating the possibility that senior staff from the provincial education department and teachers may be involved,” he said.
The possibility is not excluded that pupils could face criminal charges. — Sapa