The Western Cape Education Department (WCED) has confirmed a video circulating on social media, claiming a Grade 12 learner was caught cheating during the final exams, is fake.
The video was originally posted on TikTok on Monday as Grade 12 learners across the country started their exams.
In the 62-second video, a woman claims a learner cheated by using Artificial Intelligence.
“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 woman says.
The video has since been removed from TikTok.
Education MEC David Maynier said the video caused unnecessary anxiety as it was fake.
“No school of this name exists in the Western Cape, and the video is entirely fake.”
Should a Grade 12 pupil be caught cheating, the candidate’s results could be nullified and they could be barred from writing up to three subsequent exams.