Education Council unhappy with High Court ruling, but agrees no rewrites for matrics
The Council of Education (CEM) says it will abide by Friday’s ruling of the High Court in Pretoria that there should not be a rewrite of the Mathematics 2 and Physical Science 2 papers.
The exam papers were scheduled to be rewritten on 15 and 17 December, respectively.
The decision that all matrics must rewrite was taken by the Department of Basic Education after both papers were leaked on the eve of the respective exams.
But on Friday, Judge Norman Davis said that the decision to rewrite was irregular, unlawful, must be reviewed and set aside.
"CEM agrees that the Class of 2020 has been confronted by many challenges brought about by the Covid-19 pandemic and it would therefore be unfair to further subject the learners, their teachers and parents to further uncertainties,” Minister of Basic Education Angie Motshekga said in a statement.
However, the council is not in total agreement with Friday's judgment and will challenge a number of aspects.
"Of major concern, the court did not address the crux of the matter, namely the credibility, integrity and fairness of the 2020 National Senior Certificate (NSC) examination, taking into account the compromise of the 2020 exams, resulting from the leaks of Mathematics Paper 2 and Physical Science Paper 2,” Motshekga explained.
"Some of the findings of the court, are discordant with applicable basic education legislative provisions; and some findings were made against the department on issues that were not even raised in the court papers.
"CEM was also particularly concerned about the tone and language used by the Honourable Judge.”
The department will also continue with the investigation into the two leaked examination papers.
