Limpopo court clears 50 former matric pupils after ‘group copying’ findings
According to Section27, the pupils consistently denied cheating and explained that they attended an under-resourced school.
Fifty former matric pupils from Baphutheng Senior Secondary School in Limpopo have been cleared of examination irregularities, according to the High Court in Polokwane. The court found that the Limpopo Department of Education (LDoE) did not provide sufficient evidence to prove that the pupils committed any form of cheating. The pupils were labeled as "cheaters" after similarities in their answers to Business Studies Paper 1 and Economics Paper 2 were treated as evidence of group copying.
The court ordered the LDoE to release the pupils' National Senior Certificate statements of results and certificates within five days, without any annotations or suggestions of examination irregularities. The department must also issue the pupils' formal National Senior Certificates within 30 days. Section27, an organization supporting the legal challenge, highlighted the trauma caused to the pupils, who had spent almost two years labeled as cheaters.
The case also exposed how inequality affects pupils at under-resourced schools, and the abuse of power and discrimination by a system meant to protect them.
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