By: Natasha Archary

The University of South Africa (Unisa) is investigating over 1 400 students over plagarism and dishonesty.
On Wednesday, 17 April at a press briefing the university confirmed that 1 450 students are being investigated for possible copying and cheating on tests.
Out of 6 000 cases that were flagged by the university’s online system, only 1 450 are being prioritised and treated with the necessary sensitivity.
While Unisa maintains that there are no issues with the institution’s online system, students are disputing this, saying the system is outdated and full of glitches.
Unisa’s system, known as the Protoring Tool is able to detect sound when students are communicating answers to each other.
The tool is also able to detect if the material that is being submitted is plagarised.
According to the university, the investigation is taking time due to the amount of cases there are, and 75 cases are being handled a week.
This backlog is putting strain on students who are implicated, however Unisa says students who are under investigation can still register while the matter is being finalised.
Unisa’s Acting Vice Principal of Institutional Development, Ramogoai Magano said formal hearings have begun.
“It must be emphasised that students who are under investigations and/or undergoing disciplinary hearings are allowed to register in the intervening period to ensure that, should they be found not guilty, they are disadvantaged about their studies and academic progress.
All cases pertaining to non-adherence to the Invigilator App have been concluded. Based on the conclusion of the investigations that the contraventions were minor, the students were given warning letters.”
Over the years Unisa has faced damning allegations over the quality of their degrees and qualifications, and the institution was labelled a “qualifications factory” in a report by the Sunday Times.
Unisa says the Council for Higher Education (CHE) and other professional qualification authorities audit their qualifications.
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