South Africa's education department seeks appeal in 50 pupils' exam case

South Africa's Department of Basic Education said on October 11 that it had applied for permission to appeal a ruling concerning 50 former Baphutheng Secondary School pupils in Limpopo. The court had overturned findings of group copying.

The High Court in Polokwane ordered the department to release the pupils' final examination results. Those results had been withheld for nearly two years after education authorities found the learners responsible for irregularities.

National examinations and assessments chief director Priscilla Ogunbanjo told SABC that the application was filed the previous week. She said the department believed some information had not been fully considered.

Ogunbanjo said the department would await the court's decision on its application. The report did not announce that permission to appeal had already been granted or that the earlier ruling had been overturned.

SECTION27, the public-interest law centre representing the pupils, announced the court ruling on October 6. The dispute concerned similarities in Business Studies and Economics exam answers. The pupils denied cheating and attributed the similarities to how they had been taught.

The department's statement describes its continuing attempt to obtain a review of the ruling. It does not re-establish that the pupils committed examination irregularities.