The United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund (UNICEF) has reported that an estimated 250 000 South African children dropout of school each year. This number tripled during the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020 and a total number of 750 000 learners dropped out.
During a National Assembly briefing earlier this month, the Department of Basic Education (DBE) reported that at least 400 000 learners who started grade 1 in 2011 did not make it to matric in 2022.
A further study found that 10% of learners, grade 1 to 12, enrolled in the 2021 school year did not return to school in 2022. Another shocking statistic is that 50% of grade 6 learners will not progress to matric as they dropout, fail or have to repeat multiple years of school.
The most concern surrounds the escalating dropout rate amongst grade 10 learners. This phenomenon has even been dubbed the "grade 10 crisis".
Why School Learners Drop Out
In poorer families, many learners, aged 15 to 16, will dropout of school so that they can begin working to support their families.
Despite leaving school to become the breadwinners of their families, many learners end up falling victim to the cycle of poverty, inequality and unemployment, and without a proper education, they are unable to break this cycle.
The teenage pregnancy rate in South Africa is alarming and another major cause of young girls leaving school. Earlier this year it was reported that one third of learners who fall pregnant will not return to school. These effects are long-lasting and have a detrimental impact on their education.
UNICEF has also reported that learners' failure to properly understand their teachers in the classroom as a primary cause of dropping out. Many students are progressed to the next grade even though they did not do very well in previous grades and likely should have been kept behind.
When students are developmentally behind their peers, it is challenging for educators to teach the content in a way that these learners can understand.
In an interview with the SABC, Deputy Chairperson of the Education for Social Justice Foundation, Hendrick Makaneta, says the organisation calls upon the Government to do something about the crisis so that learners are able to create better futures for themselves.
As much as government has tried to do something about it, but so far they are not winning the war against dropouts.
The DBE has not had a sufficient system in place to accurately track learners' progress through school, however the Learner Unit Record Information and Tracking System (LURITS) has been developed that will track learners in coming years.
