19 Mar 2004

Fiji public servant jailed for stealing exam papers

11:05 am on 19 March 2004

A Fiji Ministry of Education employee who caused havoc in the public examination system last year by stealing and selling the English and mathematics papers, has been jailed for four years.

Tuipolotu Raivalu pleaded guilty to larceny by a servant and selling exam papers to a student from Ratu Kadavulevu School - an elite government school for indigenous Fijians.

In mitigation, Raivalu said he was a member of the Fiji South Pacific Games team last year and was scheduled to go to Australia for further training this year.

Magistrate Salesi Temo said the offence carried a maximun sentence of 14 years but gave Raivalu 4 years after he pleaded guilty.