Merle Mansfield, Program Director of the Zero Dropout Campaign, speaks to SAfm host Stephen Grootes about the impact of the pandemic and school closures on school dropout.

Research done by Stats SA for 2021 shows that there has been an increase in dropout particularly among older learners. "3 out of ten pupils aged 18 years old and 4 out of ten pupils aged 19 years old have dropped out of school," says Mansfield.

Mansfield explains that without concerted efforts to re-engage learners and implement accelerated catch-up programmes the knock on effects of the pandemic and school closures will continue to be felt down the line.

New research shows that there has been an increase in school dropout during the Covid-19 pandemic.

With school exams fast approaching the question of whether learners are ready or not surfaces. Our Program Director, Merle Mansfield, speaks to Power FM about this. She is joined in conversation by the Department of Education's spokesperson, Elijah Mhlanga, and Co-founder of the Faculty of Best Advisory, Mafule Moswane. 

Mansfield elaborates on the impact of Covid-19 school closures and learning losses.  She explains how this will impact learner's examination marks, making it harder for them to keep their grip on schooling. She goes on to explain the type of support, and indeed the demand for support, that schools need to create learning environments that can catch our learners up.

LISTEN: The impact of Covid-19 disruptions and learning losses on exam readiness

Merle Mansfiled, Programme Director of the Zero Dropout Campaign, speaks to the Voice of the Cape about the annual matric pass rate. Merle explains that it is important to contextualise the matric pass rate, and understand that it is just a part of the full picture. This is because it only take in to account the number of learners that sat the exam and passed, but it says nothing about the learners that dropped out along the way. Nearly 40% of learners drop out before finishing matric, and this is often brushed under the carpet.

LISTEN: Contextualising the matric pass rate

The Matric pass rate is up now to 80.1% with the highest number of bachelor passes ever. However Merle Mansfield, Programme Director of the Zero Dropout Campaign, explains that this statistic is misleading. 

"The matric pass rate should be looked at alonside the dropout rate. It would be a more accurate representation of our education system to consider how many of our learners made it from Grade one to Matric and passed," explains Mansfield. This "true matric pass rate" is closer to 37%.

How many learners actually make it to matric and pass?

The Matric pass rate is up now to 80.1% with the highest number of bachelor passes ever. The minister of Basic Education says this shows that the basic education system has ressilience. Elizabeth Biney, Head of Research at Equal Education, Merle Mansfield, Programme Director for The Zero Dropout Campaign and Prof. Rouaan Maarman, Deputy Dean for Research and Postgraduate Studies at the University of the Western Cape's (UWC) education faculty shares their thoughts on the matter.

“To the lay person, this appears to be an improvement in educational outcomes. However, this is not necessarily the case, and viewed in isolation these statistics are misleading. So, it becomes essential to consider the matric pass rate alongside other indicators, such as the dropout rate,” says Merle Mansfield. This is because the matric pass rate only tells us about the percentage of learners in Grade 12 that wrote and passed their exams, but it says nothing about how many learners dropped out along the way.

The matric pass rate should not be viewed in isolation

In this interview with Money Web, Merle Mansfield, Programme Director of the Zero Dropout Campaign, explains why Government need to address the high dropout rate when it comes to budget allocations for education. 

"At the moment we have about a 57% survival rate in our school system, which means that 57% of learners who start school in Grade 1 in a particular year would finish twelve years later. And, that about 40% of kids are getting stuck in the system in cycles of repetition or are either dropping out entirely," explains Mansfield.

She explains that the national obsession with the first day of school, and the matric exams neglects the journey in-between. As such issues of incredibly high repetition that lead to school dropout for example are swept under the rug. It also doesn't investigate our poor foundation phase learning, withe PIRLS revealing for example that that 81% of Grade 4 learners in South Africa cannot read for meaning in any language. "These are the real issues that we need to focus on in between these two end points," says Mansfield.

As (re-)allocations and adjustments take place following the Minister’s Statement, Zero Dropout Campaign is calling for the Department of Basic Education to prioritise the following issues:

The expansion of Early Warning Systems and data administrators, which are crucial for detecting learners at risk of dropout early and activating support systems such as psychosocial services to help learners cope with emotional barriers that may interfere with their academic performance.

School and district-based support teams, tasked with providing learners with these psychosocial services, must be properly funded as they play an integral role in keeping learners on track to completing Grade 12.

Ring-fenced funding for literacy-related interventions and catch-up programmes.“President Cyril Ramaphosa and his Cabinet have in recent years repeatedly claimed that early grade reading is a priority for this administration. However, it is difficult to take these claims seriously until there are dedicated catch-up programmes and financial support for them in place.

Education allocation must address school dropout

Since Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana’s Budget Speech in February this year, there have been numerous reports released with worrying insights to the state of our education system, particularly the levels of literacy in South Africa.

Colin Wardle, Head of Communications at the Zero Dropout Campaign, speaks to the Voice of The Cape about this, highlighting that dropout prevention is crucial. 

Wardle highlights that according to Census 2022 data, only six out of ten children in South Africa were still enrolled in an education institution by the age of 18. According to research, dropout peaks between Grades 10 and 12, which is why interventions aimed at supporting at- risk learners must start early in their school life.

Wardle discusses how the education budget could be used to achieve this. Listen to the full interview to find out more.

How the education budget could be spent to reduce school dropout

Recently on Power FM's POWER Breakfast show, our Programme Director, Merle Mansfield debated the Department of Basic Education's Elijah Mhlanga on the need to present dropout statistics alongside the matric pass rate. 

Mr Mhlanga argues that this is unnecessary and detracts from what should be our focus. However, we argue that the matric pass rate in isolation is not a good measure of the health of our education system and does nothing to hold us as a country accountable for leaving so many learners behind. Furthermore, implementing robust systems to monitor learner dropout in real time and regularly reporting it would help psychosocial interventions that could keep learners experiencing the kinds of challenges Mr Mhlanga details in school.

POWER FM: Should the dropout rate be presented alongside the matric pass rate?

In this SAfm interview with Stephen Grootes, Merle Mansfield, Programme Director of the Zero Dropout Campaign, discusses the protentional implications of the Department of Basic Education's new General Education Certificate for Grade 9 currently being piloted in schools across South Africa.

SAfm: How will the new General Education Certificate affect dropout in South Africa?

The Zero Dropout Campaign's Programme Lead, Merle Mansfield, spoke to Michelle Constant on The Jet Set Breakfast about President Ramaphosa signing the Basic Education Laws Amendment (BELA) Bill and what it could mean for South Africa's education sector.

The Zero Dropout Campaign

Popular tracks