By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
Umalusi, the Quality Council for General and Further Education and Training, has appointed a three-member panel to probe what led to the inclusion of a “problematic” question in the matric mathematics paper 2.
There was a huge uproar from pupils and teachers after the writing of the paper on November 7 when they discovered that a seven-mark question in trigonometry is “unsolvable”. Basic education department spokesperson Elijah Mhlanga said at the time that the suspected error was reported countrywide after the paper had been written.
Umalusi in a statement on Monday said the panel was specifically tasked to investigate how the error crept in and why it was not detected between the examiners, internal and external moderators up to the printing stage.
Umalusi spokesperson, Biki Lepota, said: “In other words, the focus is on the entire value chain: all the processes that the question paper was subjected to during the stages of its development, quality assurance and printing.
Chaired by Penelope (Penny) Vinjevold, the three-member panel inlcudes Professor Sudan Hansraj and Professor Nic Heideman.
Lepota said the panel has the mandate to fully investigate the matter and submit its final report to Umalusi.
“The report will be shared publicly on 16 January 2023 during the media briefing on the approval of the release of the 2022 examination results of the different assessment bodies,” he said.
Umalusi CEO, Dr Mafu Rakometsi, said: “Umalusi wishes to restate two points. The first is that the investigation will in no way delay the release of the NSC results. As per the approved schedule, the results will be approved on 16 January 2023 by the Executive Committee (EXCO) of Umalusi Council and the Minister of Basic Education will release the results to the public on 19 January 2023.”
Secondly, he said Umalusi “wants to reassure the public that it will do everything humanly possible to ensure that no candidate is disadvantaged by the error in Question 5.1”.
In order to allow the due process to unfold unhindered and to protect the independence of the work of the panel, Umalusi will answer questions on this matter when the report is released to the public on 16 January 2023.