DISCIPLINARY action is being taken against the principal of Phefeni Secondary School, who last year forgot to load a box with 20 physical science exam papers into his car.

The headmaster, who was also the chief invigilator at the Soweto school, forgot to load the question papers into his vehicle when he went to pick them up from the nodal point on October 25.

He was suspended as an invigilator and replaced by his deputy after the incident. He was charged with misconduct.

This was the only security breach during the examinations.

Yesterday, Gauteng education department spokesman Charles Phahlane said the principal was charged with misconduct and there was an internal disciplinary hearing.

"We will communicate the outcome when the disciplinary process is concluded," he said.

After the papers were lost, physical science scripts from four schools around the area were quarantined to ensure that the paper was not compromised.

Phahlane said: "All the scripts from the school and surrounding schools were marked separately. We could not find any evidence that learners had prior knowledge of the exam paper."