A study on the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on education found that around 750 000 learners did not return to school.
This high number, brought on as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic, was three times the national average.
The Zero Dropout Campaign added that around 40% of learners who start school in Grade 1 will exit the schooling system before finishing matric. The implications of this are dire as of the 7.6 million unemployed persons in the third quarter of 2021, as many as 51.8% had education levels below matric.
Rahima Essop says that dropping out has been normalised in many communities in South Africa. She believes that this deepens poverty, joblessness and inequality.
Essop said, “the fact that we have large grade eight classes but the numbers dwindle by the time that they get to matric shows us the extent of the problem in South Africa”.
She believes this challenge requires a holistic and multi-faceted approach led by the national government and supported by civil society.
Essop adds that an early detection system needs to be created which can detect if a learner is becoming disengaged with school so that the right type of support can be provided to the learners.
“The best way to promote accountability is to make dropout a key performance indicator. We also need to see budgetary commitments to make this a reality and at a school level then we need to institute early warning systems which will help educators to tell when a learner is becoming disengaged and is at high risk of dropping out” concluded Essop.
