Soaring school dropout rates set off alarm bells

Not only has Covid severely affected economies across the globe, it is also ravaging many children’s futures as nearly three quarters of a million pupils in South Africa dropped out of school this year.

The National Income Dynamics Coronavirus Rapid Mobile Survey (Nids-Cram) revealed that the school dropout rate in 2021 had more than tripled from 230 000 pupils pre-pandemic to 750 000, leading to the highest dropout rate in 20 years.

According to experts, even though some of these pupils have resorted to home schooling, many of them have been unable to return to school as a result of psychological and emotional trauma.

University of KwaZulu-Natal professor of education Wayne Hugo said although the tripling numbers were alarmingly high, they were also partially a sign that parents were looking into alternative schooling.

“This triple increase clearly shows that something has gone wrong. However, it is good that some parents have actively made the decision to home-school their children,” Hugo said.

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“People are mostly used to the default education system and have an accepted practice which has led to schooling basically becoming childcare.”

The Nids-Cram Wave 5 data estimated that in May 2021, the total number of seven to 17-year-olds who had dropped out of school have not attended once during 2021 was between 650 342 and 753 371.

Department of basic education spokesperson Elijah Mhlanga said they had consistently called for the full return of schools and they believed that at least 12 million pupils were back in school.

“We need to understand the reason for the dropout rate. When pupils stay away from school for too long, as has been the case with Covid, they lose interest and never return,” he said.

“Let us also remember that parents chose to keep their children at home for home education.”

Mhlanga also said while school closures, phased reopening and rotational teaching have impacted school attendance, “Covid changed everything”.

“It forced schools to close, thus worsening the problem,” said Mhlanga.

Meanwhile, Home Education in SA’s Bouwe van der Eens said based on anecdotal evidence, it seemed the number of dropouts was growing at 20% every year, but had at least doubled due to the pandemic.

“Given this growth, it can be estimated that there are about 140 000 home pupils in early 2020,” he said.

“During lockdown, the numbers seemed to have doubled in 2020, based on anecdotal evidence from home education organisations. This means that the number of home pupils could be as many as 300 000 by now.”

However, organisations such as the Legal Resource Centre (LRC) and Save the Children have called on government to focus on saving education and protecting the right of every child to an education.

“We were already in the midst of an education crisis brought about by Covid. With the destruction of schools in South Africa, many children now face an education emergency,” said the international humanitarian organisation.

“As a nation, we have failed to protect the right of every child to an education and children will feel this impacts for the rest of their lives, and their children’s lives.”

The LRC also said pupils who drop out of school never reach their full potential, while reinforcing cycles of poverty and inequality that inhibit the development of the nation.

“The LRC calls on the department of basic education to take decisive action and develop a comprehensive response to school dropouts and ensure that all children learn,” they tweeted.

– reitumetsem@citizen.co.za