WINDHOEK- For nearly a month, Ohangwena police still have not traced the three boxes containing Grade 10 exam answer sheets that were stolen while being transported to Eenhana at the back of a pick-up vehicle.
Papers that were stolen on October 10, include English papers one and two, Geography papers one and two and Life Science which has a single paper.
Deputy Commissioner, Abner Agas, the Ohangwena Regional Crime Investigations Coordinator, yesterday said there was still no arrest nor any recovery regarding the stolen answer scripts.
To save the pupils from the inconvenience of sitting for the examinations again, the Ministry of Education through the examination board made a decision to use average coursework marks over the year to grade the Oshikango Grade 10 pupils whose exam answer sheets were stolen a few weeks ago.
There are more than 60 full-time Grade 10 candidates and a few part-time learners registered for exams at the Oshikango Combined School, which is located in Oshikango town, on the border between Namibia and Angola. However on his way to Eenhana the teacher parked his vehicle outside Standard Bank in Oshikango and went inside to withdraw money. He was alone in the vehicle and when he allegedly returned he found all three boxes had been removed. His vehicle canopy apparently does not lock and gave the criminals easy access.
Normally all the exam answer sheets are transported every Friday to the regional education directorate and then taken to Windhoek for marking.
The affected learners who were in limbo over the stolen answer sheets can now breath a sigh of relief as they do not have to sit again for the missing papers.
New Era understands that although police investigations continue, the Ohangwena Regional Education Directorate dispatched a team of investigators to the school. Grade 10 learners who started writing exams on September 26, and finished by October 20.