Johannesburg - The Gauteng Department of Education is in the process of tracing about 1 088 pupils who have failed to return to the province’s public schools since schools reopened.
Gauteng Education MEC Panyaza Lesufi revealed on Tuesday that about 1 088 pupils had failed to return to the province’s public schools as of March 29.
“It breaks our hearts to observe that 1 088 learners failed to return to our schools. We remain hopeful that parents will learn that Covid-19 will be with us for the next few years and kids should not be denied the right to education,” Lesufi said in a tweet.
According to the department’s statistics, Grade 3 and Grade 10 pupils made up the majority of pupils that did not return to Gauteng public schools, with 183 and 140 drop-outs respectively. Meanwhile, Grade 6 and Grade 12 are the grades that had the least dropouts, with 29 and 60 dropouts respectively.
Since schools reopened in February, about 61 Grade 1s, 98 Grade 2s, 106 Grade 4s, 53 Grade 5s, 62 Grade 7s, 108 Grade 8s, 99 Grade 9s and 89 Grade 11s failed to return to Gauteng public schools.
Gauteng Department of Education spokesperson Steve Mabona told The Star on Wednesday that the department was in the process of tracing the 1 088 pupils to determine whether they transferred to another province, an independent school, opted for home schooling or were learning at home owing to co-morbidities.
“If learners are at home and do not fit into the four categories above, then the department will enforce attendance if the child is 15 years or younger, the compulsory school attendance,” he said.
Mabona said that the department would also advise and counsel pupils older than 15 years on the importance and value of completing school.
“The department will work with social workers in this process and will be monitoring the situation very closely,” he said.
Civil organisation Zero Dropout Campaign’s head of communications and advocacy, Rahima Essop, said the fact that many pupils had not returned to school was concerning and required urgent attention in the form of a sustained drop-out prevention plan.
“Drop-out comes at the end of a process in which young people become increasingly detached from their education over a period of time … When schools closed, many learners lost their connection to teaching and learning as well as the social, nutritional and emotional safety nets that schools provide,” Essop said.
She said that Covid-19 school closures, together with the economic shocks of lockdown, have amplified the disruptions that typically lead to drop-out.
According to the department, a total of 259 schools have been affected by Covid-19 as of March 29. About 150 pupils, 137 educators, 20 administrative staff members and 20 general assistants were infected with Covid-19.
The Gauteng East district in the Ekurhuleni region had the highest number of affected schools at 39, the Johannesburg East district had the most pupil cases with 40 reported cases, and the Tshwane South district had the most educator cases with 18 cases.
The Star