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The South African Democratic Teachers Union said it would be going to court on Monday to challenge the decision that learners must rewrite two leaked exam papers.
The decision was announced last week by the Minister of Basic Education, Angie Motshekga, who said the Mathematics Paper would be rewritten on 15 December and the Physical Science Paper 2 on 17 December.
Sadtu said the majority of unions had made their views known during consultations on the leaks with the Department of Basic Education and consensus was reached.
However, the quality assurance body, Umalusi, did not agree and the decision to rewrite was taken.
“SADTU believes the decision to have all learners doing mathematics and physical science rewrite is unfair and premature because the investigation has not been concluded,” said general-secretary, Mugwena Maluleke.
He said the initial investigation had shown that the number of learners who may have seen the paper was fewer than 200 out of the 390 000 who wrote the paper and therefore there was no basis for a national rewrite.
Maluleke said the decision had left many learners and teachers distraught and frustrated.
“It undermines the work of our teachers and learners who worked under difficult circumstances due to COVID 19. Learners are being punished for something that is not of their making as only a few saw the paper,” he said.
Another teachers’ union, Naptosa also said it was unfair to punish those learners who were not involved in the leaks.
