By Karabo Rammutla
Question five on the grade 12 Maths Paper 2 on Monday puzzled everyone. Apparently even maths teachers couldn’t solve it. Most came to the conclusion that the question was impossible to solve.
The Department of Basic Education was inundated with complaints regarding an alleged error in the exam paper for Monday.
On Wednesday, the department announced it is investigating the question worth seven marks that matric learners faced in their final exams.
According to department spokesperson Elijah Mhlanga the suspected error was reported countrywide.
Mhlanga said once a paper has been written, there is an informal memo discussion comprising learners and subject teachers to see how the learners fared in the exam.
In a statement, Mhlanga assured learners that they mustn’t worry.
“We will look into it. We have a panel that reviews every paper. If there is an error, the first step is to remove that mark so that no one is compromised,” said Mhlanga.
“As the exam was out of 100, everyone will be marked out of 93. The second step is to check what the impact of that was on the learners.”
He said some learners complained that they wasted time looking for the answer. Others ended up frustrated and stressed.
“Officials would look at the overall performance of the learners. If it is established that the question impacted their exam, the department will ask quality assurance council Umalusi for an upward adjustment of 1% or 2%. That is how exams and assessments work around the world,” he said.
Pictured below: Matric learners countrywide complained about question five of Maths paper 2
Picture source: Karabo Rammutla
