A man is now in police custody for tampering with Grade 10 examination papers in a (named) private high school in Goroka, Eastern Highlands.
The individual known by multiple names was caught on Saturday, October 14th, while he was attempting to travel from Port Moresby to Goroka.
According to the Education Secretary Dr. Uke Kombra, the individual, was believed to have been working alongside the school.
“This is a complicity between the individuals and the school itself – the school is supposed to secure these exam papers and distribute them.”
“These criminals wanted to steal the papers and sell them to unsuspecting students or students who have not done well in school and are trying to cheat.”
Dr. Kombra further clarified how the papers were tampered with prior to distribution.
“All exam papers were wrapped in a special red tape that indicates when exam papers have been tampered with.”
“However, a blade was used to cut through the exam wrapping on the side without disturbing the red tape, and later resealed with regular sticky tape; hence the invigilator who was supervising the exam could not tell that the papers had been tampered with.”
“We discovered afterwards that there were 9 exam papers sealed when there should’ve been 10, but by then the other exam papers were already administered so we couldn’t do much.”
Dr. Kombra has assured parents and teachers that the Education department has taken all measures to minimize cheating.
“We have put a security system in place that does not allow the same exam paper to be given to every school in the country.”
“Therefore, even if the papers are leaked, students still risk a chance of not getting their answers right.”
Meanwhile, Secretary Kombra added that another individual was caught under similar circumstances in Jiwak