Cape Town — The Western Cape Education Department (WCED) has responded to the video that had been circulating online alleging that a learner used AI to cheat during their matric final exams.
In a statement, the WCED said there is no school in the province called “Golden Gates High School” – the school where the alleged cheating took place.
The department confirmed that the video was fake.
Minister of Education in the Western Cape, David Maynier, said that although efforts were made to clarify that the video is a parody, the damage has already been done.
“Deliberate fake news of this kind is extremely damaging, as it falsely creates doubt in the integrity of the exam process, and adds to the anxiety of our matrics at a time when they need to focus on their exams,” Mayneir said.
Maynier appealed to everyone in the Western Cape to avoid posting or sharing fake news about the exams as it wastes the officials’ time when their effrots need to be on administering exams and not causing any panic amongst the learners.
🚨Fake news videos cause unnecessary anxiety for the #ClassOf2024. Read statement by Western Cape Education Minister @DavidMaynier here 👉https://t.co/ZQTCgv6xkc. pic.twitter.com/NIHi1c9xY8
— WCEDNews (@WCEDnews) October 22, 2024
“Our priority during the exam period must be the well-being of our matrics, so that they are in the best possible headspace when they write each exam. It is the responsibility of each one of us, especially adults, to support our matrics in the Western Cape,” he added.
The video was originally posted on TikTok where a woman claimed to have been investigating the English Paper 3 exam where she said the learner was allegedly cheating and using AI on his cellphone to write his essay, IOL reported.
The video received more than 100 000 likes, nearly 30 000 shares and over 5 000 comments before it was removed from TikTok.
“Good day, this is Mrs August, the Principal of the Golden Gates High School. We found a learner writing English paper 3 using AI to generate his essay topic. We obviously had to generate the procedure. This is an irregularity and this child now won’t be able to write matric exams for the next three years,” the alleged Mrs August said.
She went further stating that this would infringe on the school’s 100% pass rate.
Picture: Pixabay
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Compiled by Matthew Petersen
