Following a recent scandal where some Botswana General Certificate Secondary Education (BGCSE) examinations papers were leaked before their scheduled sitting, the Minister of Education and Skills Development, Douglas Letsholathebe has announced that the exams have been postponed for a period of two weeks.
The BGCSE will now resume on October 30, 2023 and according to the minister, the decision is to allow Botswana Examinations Council (BEC) to carry out further investigations over the leaked examinations papers.
Speaking at a press briefing this afternoon at the BEC headquarters, Letsholathebe pleaded with the public and learners to remain calm during this process.
"We have engaged law enforcement agencies and they have since discovered that some papers indeed have been leaked hence the decision to postpone today's examination and those that had to follow next week for the period of 14 days to carry out investigations on the matter. I can confirm that through their preliminary investigations they have since established that an individual is behind this mess," Letsholathebe said.
The affected papers in the leak scandal are Science Double Award paper 3, which was sat on October 5, 2023, Mathematics paper 2 and English paper 1 that was scheduled to be sat on October 16, 2023 .
