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Adult Education and Training Act, 2000 (Act No. 52 of 2000)

Notices

National Policy on the conduct of Adult Basic Education and Training (ABET) Level 4 Examinations

Annexure G : Dealing with irregularities

 

1. Introduction

 

It is essential that examination irregularities be handled in an appropriate and uniform manner. It is therefore necessary that a clear policy regarding the handling of irregularities is formulated. This policy should not only be applied uniformly in the province (i.e. regions, districts, circuits), but also across all provinces. Since all irregularities have legal implications, it is vital that there be a detailed policy, and secondly, that the policy be applied with great circumspection

 

2. Structure of the irregularities Committee

 

The Irregularities Committee should be responsible for the handling of irregularities and report to the Head of Department on all matters relating to irregularities. The Irregularities Committee must enjoy credibility and acceptance by all stakeholders in the examination process. The important role of the committee makes it necessary, that, senior officials in the department serve on this committee. The Director for Examinations may recommend to the Head of Department, or his delegate, the appointment of senior officials of the department to serve on the Irregularities Committee. It is also recommended that the Irregularities Committee includes representatives from the teacher unions, and the ABET Centre governing bodies where applicable. The chairperson of the committee should be appointed by the Examination Board. The Irregularities Committee could also be established as a subcommittee of the examination board. The Irregularities Committee should also be decentralised to the regional or district offices.

 

3. Functions of the Irregularities Committee

 

There are three main phases in dealing with irregularities:

(a) Identification of an irregularity (i.e. at the examination centre, at the marking centre, etc.)
(b) Confirmation of an irregularity (i.e. the gathering of evidence or the investigation required in respect of the irregularity)
(c) Recommendation regarding the particular irregularity (i.e. the action to be taken with regard to particular irregularities)

 

4. Nature of irregularities

 

4.1 Irregularities involving candidates

 

The following is a list, amongst others, of the irregularities that may involve learners:

• Candidate caught in possession of unauthorised material in the examination room
• Candidate caught copying from notes or textbooks
• Candidate caught copying from fellow candidates
• Candidate caught obtaining help from or being helped by another candidate
• Assisting another candidate
• Receiving assistance from any other person
• Creating a disturbance, intimidation, drunkenness, disregarding the arrangements and/or the reasonable instructions of the invigilator
• Failure to produce identification document or the presentation of improper documents
• Late arrival at the examination centre
• The erroneous handing in of blank examination scripts
• Assistance provided by invigilator to candidates
• Examination written by another candidate
• The answer book submitted being different from the one issued by the invigilator
• Different handwriting in script
• Two examination scripts submitted for one candidate
• Crib notes discovered in scripts at the marking centre
• Incorrect examination number or no examination number
• Script removed from examination room and submitted later ’
• Examination written outside the examination centre
• Leaked/Stolen question paper
• Examination script which is damaged
• Examination script lost or missing
• No examination number on the mark sheet
• Writing at another examination centre
• Bribery
• Registering at more than one centre
• Any other action, which is in contravention to the rules administration of examinations in the provinces.

 

4.2 Irregularities involving examination officials

 

Irregularities relating to examination officials may be identified during the following stages of the examination process:

• Setting and moderation of question papers.
• Typing, printing and distribution of question papers.
• Invigilation
• Marking, i.e. incorrect information provided by markers; divulging confidential information to unauthorised persons.
• Data processing

 

5. Procedure to be followed in dealing with irregularities

 

5.1 Irregularities involving candidates

 

The procedure to be followed when dealing with irregularities involving learners would depend on when the irregularity is identified and the nature of the irregularity.

 

Irregularities may be identified:

• before the examination paper is written;
• while the examination paper is being written; or
• while the scripts are being marked.

 

(a) Before the Examination Paper is Written

 

This will apply to candidates obtaining information on the examination paper before the paper is written. The first step will be to verify the leakage of the paper and the extent of the leakage, i.e. is it confined to a particular school, group of schools, a region or is it widespread? This can be done via the regional and district offices and in collaboration with the Heads of the Institutions. If the leakage is widespread, then the provincial education department must arrange for the question paper to be re-written on a date following the completion of the examination. If the Irregularities Committee is convinced that the leakage is confined to a single or extremely limited number of examination centres, then the committee may recommend to the Head of Department that the action taken be limited to candidates at those particular examination centres.

 

(b) While the Examination Paper is being Written

 

The following procedure should be followed when an irregularity is suspected by the invigilator:

(i) The invigilator must remove the candidate's script and write the word "IRREGULARITY" on the cover, noting the time of the removal. The candidate should then be handed another answer book. The second answer book must also be endorsed with the words "NEW ANSWER BOOK" and the time.
(ii) The invigilator must also take possession of any unauthorised material which the candidate may have in his/her possession Such material and the examination script/answer book become the property of the department and the candidate shall not have the right to demand the return thereof.
(iii) The candidate should be informed that the fact that he/she may continue with the examination is not a condonation of his/her contravention of the examination rules and that the incident will be reported to the provincial department.
(iv) Immediately following the examination the invigilator must complete a full report concerning the irregularity. This report should be accompanied by a report from the Head of the Institution or Chief Invigilator.
(v) The candidate must also hand in a written response to any charge of irregularity during the examination. This written response should be signed by one of the candidate's parents or guardian, should he/she be a minor. If the candidate refuses to submit a written response, this should be noted and the candidate should sign a document to confirm this.
(vi) A candidate who, having been subjected to the procedure described above, persists in contravening the rules of the examination, may be removed from the examination room and have he/her script confiscated. The same procedure should apply to a candidate who, after the first warning, continues to cause disturbance or continues to contravene other examination rules.
(vii) The provincial education department must stipulate a time period within which all irregularity reports must be submitted.

 

(c) While the Examination Scripts/Answer Books are being Marked

 

(i) When a marker suspects that there has been an irregularity, e.g. between candidates, he/she should consult with the examiner concerned.
(ii) If the marker and the examiner are convinced that an irregularity has taken place, then a report must be written concerning the matter. The whole examination script/answer book must be marked in the usual way regardless of the suspected irregularity. The candidate should not in any way be penalised by the marker. The report and the marked script should then be‘ handed to the Irregularities Committee.
(iii) Scripts, which are being investigated for possible irregularities, must be handled separately.

 

5.2 Action to be taken against learners who are involved in irregularities

 

After examining all reports on irregularities, the Irregularities Committee should decide on whether a particular case needs further investigation or whether a recommendation on the action to be taken, can be made to the Head of Department.

 

If the case requires further investigation, the committee may call upon any official in the service of the department, invigilator or any learner, to appear before the committee to give evidence. The committee may question a candidate who is accused of an irregularity so that the candidate’s side of the case may be heard.

 

The committee must also have access to any room or place at an examination centre and may examine any book, register or other document and may take possession of any book, record, document or any article, which, in the committee’s opinion, may in any way be connected with the investigation.

 

A report on each irregularity, together with a recommendation on the action to be taken, must be submitted to the Head of Department.

 

The following is a list of the irregularities and the actions that may be taken by the provincial education department:

 

Irregularities involving learners

No.

Irregularity

Action to be taken

(a)

Candidate caught in possession of unauthorised material
• Marks for the learning area should be regarded as null and void. In the case where there are two or more papers, the mark for the entire learning area is declared null and void even though the candidate was cheating in one paper.
• The candidate must be banned from writing the examination for a year, i.e. the results of the current year are cancelled and the candidate is excluded from the examination in the following year.

(b)

Candidate caught copying from notes or textbooks

As in (a).

(c)

Candidate caught copying from fellow candidates

As in (a).

(d)

Candidate caught obtaining help from or being helped by another candidate

As in (a)

(e)

Assisting another candidate

As in (a)

(f)

Creating a disturbance, intimidation, drunkenness, disregarding the arrangements and/or the reasonable instructions of the invigilator
• Candidate must be restrained by the invigilator, failing, which, the police are called.
• As in (a) and other criminal charges determined by the police.

(g)

Writing on incorrect learning area
• Each PED should deal with this as a technical irregularity following their own particular action.
• Workshops to train invigilators in the handling of candidates entering on the incorrect learning area and other irregularities should be organised.

(h)

Failure to produce ID or the presentation of improper documents

Failure to produce identification documents

• This does not relate to full-time candidates as they are expected to produce admission letters since the chief invigilator or any other invigilator can identify them. Part-time candidates must produce their ID’s and if they do not produce them they must not be allowed to write the subject.

Improper documentation

• This is regarded as fraud and should be reported to the police.
• As in (a).

(i)

Late arrival at the examination centre

Candidates should not be allowed to enter or leave the examination room within a certain period of time as stipulated by the PEDS.

(j)

The erroneous handing in of blank examination scripts

Depending on the details of the case, the PED should decide on the action to be taken.

(k)

Assistance provided by the invigilator to learner
• In the case where the learner admits guilt, the marks are cancelled and the learner is allowed to write the following examination.
• Where the learner does not admit guilt and there is hard evidence that assistance was provided by the invigilator, then (a) is applied.

(l)

Examination written by another candidate
• This must be regarded as fraud and handled by the police.
• After the courts confirm the charge of fraud and the penalty is imposed, the action taken by the Department will be the same as in (a).

(m)

The answer book submitted being different from the one handed out by the invigilator

If guilty, apply (a).

(n)

Different handwriting in script

If found guilty, apply (a).

(o)

Two examination scripts submitted for one learner

This should be investigated. If the learner is found guilty, apply (a).

(p)

Crib noted discovered in script at the marking centre

If the learner denies knowledge of the notes, then an investigation should be carried out. If the learner is found guilty or he/she accepts guilt, then (a) can be applied.

(q)

Incorrect examination number or no examination number

This is a technical error and must be dealt with administratively as stipulated by the PEDs.

(r)

Script removed from the examination room and submitted later
• The script must be marked as normal, pending the outcome of the investigation.
• If the investigation confirms an irregularity, the marks in that subject must be cancelled but the candidate must not be barred from the final examination the following year.

(s)

Examination written outside the examination centre
• This must be regarded as fraud and criminal charges must be pursued by the police.
• If the candidate is found guilty, (a) must be applied.

(t)

Leaked/stolen question paper
• In the case of a demonstrated complicity in gaining prior access to the question paper, the results of ALL the subjects are cancelled.
• The candidate must be barred from writing examinations for 3 - 5 years.
• This must be regarded as a criminal case and must be referred to the police.

(u)

Examination script which is damaged

Each case must be investigated and the actions taken must be determined by the PEDs based on the merits of each case.

(v)

Examination script which is lost or missing

The PED is to determine in a fair manner a calculated mark and submit this to SAFCERT for approval.

(w)

No examination number of the mark sheet

This is a technical error and must be dealt with administratively.

(x)

Writing at another examination centre

The examination centre must contact the centre at which the examination should be written and arrange through the District or Regional offices for the transfer of the script.

(y)

Bribery

As in (a).

(z)

Registering at more than one centre

If discovered the registration must be cancelled and the candidate can register for the next examination.

 

5.3 Action to be taken against examination officials involved in irregularities

 

All irregularities involving examination officials should be handled in terms of the procedures relating to misconduct of employees.

 

5.4 Special measures to be observed in dealing with irregularities

 

5.4.1 PEDs must compile and distribute a list of candidates’ names, with their examination numbers, who are found guilty of irregularities. This will assist in identifying candidates who are guilty in another province.
5.4.2 The PEDs must also add the copyright clause on their question papers.
5.4.3 Candidates should not be allowed to register at more than one examination centre.