LEARNER drop-out, although a global phenomenon, has tremendous effects on the communities of developing countries, including South Africa.
All South Africans have a right to basic education and the Bill of Rights obliges the government to progressively make education available and accessible through reasonable measures.
However, even with this known, many schools in Gauteng are in terrible condition, resulting in thousands of learners being lost in the system. Many have dropped out of school, while others have been moved to schools with better resources to deliver quality education.
Out of 2 513 350 learners whom the department enrolled in 2021, only 2 252 291 returned to school in the 2022 academic year in Grades I to 12.
Of an alarming number of 110 381 learners, the department is uncertain whether they moved to other provinces or countries or left the education system altogether.
This information was revealed by Gauteng MEC for Education, Matome Chiloane, in a written reply to the DA’s questions tabled in the Gauteng Provincial Legislature (GPL).
Of the 110 381 learners who were lost in the system, 53 935 are of school-going age.
DA Gauteng spokesperson on education Khume Ramulifho said this was concerning because it substantially impacted the future of these learners, who would struggle to find long-term employment as they lack the basic skills needed in a workplace.
The DA proposes that the department must have mechanisms in place to track the learners who are lost in the system to ensure that no learner of school-going age is deprived of education, he said.
“Furthermore, it is the responsibility of the department to maintain our schools regularly. We demand that all schools be adequately equipped with resources to create an environment conducive to learning and teaching.
“The DA will submit further questions to the MEC to determine what steps have been taken to locate the whereabouts of these learners who have been lost in the system,” Ramulifho said.
According to a report by Statistics SA (Stats SA 2022), close to 3% of 15 year olds and nearly 9% of 17 year olds dropped out of school in 2021.
Research reveals that in 2010, 1.1 million pupils enrolled for Grade I. Of these 1.1 million first school entries, only 755 981 enrolled for their National Senior Certificate in 2022.
The number of pupils who enrolled for Matric in 2022 was 22 783 more than the previous year, 2021, when 733 000 pupils were enrolled. These figures are an indication that pupil drop-out continues, with minimal chance of decreasing.
Pupils drop out of school in all the grades, however, the major focus is on the Further Education and Training (FET) band, especially Grade 12. This is one shortfall that results in a continued drop-out among South African schools.
Activist and social entrepreneur, Monica Brown, said the school drop-out rate was of particular concern because pupils who dropped out of school prematurely would experience a lack of access to higher education, fewer job opportunities and lower wages than their peers who finished their schooling.
“Personally I contacted schools in areas where I found children who were just roaming around or even sometimes begging with the parents at street corners. My first question to the parents will always be: ‘Why is your child begging here with you? Why is he or she not at school?’
“Most of the time the parent, which in most cases is the mother, will say that they have no place to stay and they have no money for the children or child to go to school. One mom told me that education is really just a waste of time in South Africa as unemployment is too high,” Brown said.
Senior lecturer in the Faculty of Psychology of Education at Unisa, Dr Connie Haasbroek, said that out-of-school rates were the highest in the last 20 years.
“In 2021 and mid-2022, 400 000 to 500 000 children dropped out of school in South Africa, bringing the total number of out of school children to 750 000, according to the United Nations Children’s Fund (Unicef),” Haasbroek said.
Teenage pregnancy was identified as one of the reasons why children dropped out of school in the country, she said.
“Over half-a-million children with disabilities are excluded from education. On September 21, the South African Constitutional Court declared the Copyright Act unconstitutional because it did not include exceptions that would allow for the reproduction and adaptation of literary materials to meet the needs of persons who had a visual or print disability.”