Over 400 matric pupils accused of cheating during their 2022 exams and whose results have been held since will benefit from their own wrongdoing should the court order the education department to release their results.
This is according to the national department of basic education in its appeal application against a Mpumalanga high court order which reviewed and set aside the decision to nullify the pupil's examination results.
The department said in court documents that the pupils' suspension from writing examination had lapsed, and they were now able to write examinations. However, the pupils are insisting on the release of examination results that were “tainted”.
“The [pupils] came to court to demand the release of their results despite the fact that they had cheated. The court agreed that cheating did take place but then proceeded to order that the appellants should release the results,” read the papers.
In August last year, the Mpumalanga high court said the results should be released after it found there were a number of flaws committed during the disciplinary process of the pupils.
These include minors representing themselves without a legal guardian present, conducting disciplinary hearings in a group and proceedings not being recorded.
High court acting judge Johannes Roelofse had said at the time that he did not doubt that the pupils cheated and that they deserved to be punished as they were.
However, the procedural defects had tainted the entire process, he said.
“They [pupils] were entitled to the prescribed procedure and fairness in the process of the department arriving at the decision. This did not happen,” he said at the time.
In its heads of argument, however, the department said the court should not have ignored the fact that they (the pupils) ran to court without exhausting internal remedies. It also said the court erred when it disregarded its submission that the pupils were represented by the school principal who assumed the role of the parents.
The department also said the hearings were held in groups because the law allowed for a collective or merged hearings when a group of people acted collectively and associated themselves with an act of irregularities and therefore were charged collectively.
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Image: 123RF/arrowsmith2
Over 400 matric pupils accused of cheating during their 2022 exams and whose results have been held since will benefit from their own wrongdoing should the court order the education department to release their results.
This is according to the national department of basic education in its appeal application against a Mpumalanga high court order which reviewed and set aside the decision to nullify the pupil's examination results.
The department said in court documents that the pupils' suspension from writing examination had lapsed, and they were now able to write examinations. However, the pupils are insisting on the release of examination results that were “tainted”.
“The [pupils] came to court to demand the release of their results despite the fact that they had cheated. The court agreed that cheating did take place but then proceeded to order that the appellants should release the results,” read the papers.
In August last year, the Mpumalanga high court said the results should be released after it found there were a number of flaws committed during the disciplinary process of the pupils.
These include minors representing themselves without a legal guardian present, conducting disciplinary hearings in a group and proceedings not being recorded.
High court acting judge Johannes Roelofse had said at the time that he did not doubt that the pupils cheated and that they deserved to be punished as they were.
However, the procedural defects had tainted the entire process, he said.
“They [pupils] were entitled to the prescribed procedure and fairness in the process of the department arriving at the decision. This did not happen,” he said at the time.
In its heads of argument, however, the department said the court should not have ignored the fact that they (the pupils) ran to court without exhausting internal remedies. It also said the court erred when it disregarded its submission that the pupils were represented by the school principal who assumed the role of the parents.
The department also said the hearings were held in groups because the law allowed for a collective or merged hearings when a group of people acted collectively and associated themselves with an act of irregularities and therefore were charged collectively.
“It was practically impossible to conduct hearings of more than 400 learners individually when they are charged with the same irregularities. The respondents did not plead any prejudice based on the consolidated hearings. The respondents did not object to group hearing or consolidated hearing nor did any of them apply for a separation of their hearings,” argued the department.
According to the department, the court had erred in finding that it had not recorded the hearings. It said the regulation did not stipulate whether it should be a mechanical or a manual recording, adding that evidence before the court proved that the proceedings were recorded and the minutes were discovered.
In their replying affidavit, the pupils – who are represented by Adv Doctor "DJ" Sibuyi – said they did not cheat.
They also argue that the court did not err in finding that the department did not follow the correct procedure when it charged them.
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