According to Unesco, the most vulnerable learners are the hardest hit, increasing inequalities and exacerbating a pre-existing education crisis.
It has been reported that enrolment was approximately 50 000 (0.4%) lower than expected in the first quarter of the 2021 school year.
In a report, the Basic Education Portfolio Committee revealed:
The problem is concentrated in the lower grades.
The Committee has posed questions relating to learner dropouts, as South Africa has reached its peak of the dropout rate.
A report from the United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund (Unicef) concurs and revealed that the number of out-of-school children in South Africa tripled from 250 000 to 750 000 between March 2020 and July 2021.
The Department of Basic Education (DBE) has confirmed it will ensure strategies and mechanisms are in place to track, trace and retain drop-out learners in the system.
The department added that it has engaged with Provincial Education Departments (PEDs) to resolve challenges with learner placements so all learners are adequately placed.
This will help avoid the dilemma that the department, parents, and learners were faced with at the beginning of the school year where many learners were unplaced.