Dropout prevention should be a goal of the South African school system

Education organisations said the 76.4% pass rate for the class of 2021 was not a good indicator to see what the true state of the education system was. According to organisations, many children drop out before reaching matric because of pressure, social injustices, financial reasons or children-headed household responsibilities.

Equal Education’s Stacey Jacobs said there were a number of factors to look at when trying to evaluate whether the quality of education had improved.

The Zero Dropout Campaign’s Rahima Essop said what was concerning was the high dropout rate. “We should be making dropout prevention an explicit goal of our schooling system. Dropouts should be a key performance indicator serving as an accountability measure,” says Essop.

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