LISTEN: School dropouts – what about them?

Matric results have been announced and Basic Education Minister Angie Motshekga is happy with the pass rate. But a worrying fact is being brought to light by Merle Mansfield, Programme Director of the Zero Dropout Campaign. She tells Talking Point host Bongi Gwala that while almost every child starts school in South Africa, around 40% won’t make it to matric, let alone pass it. Mansfield says this major failure of our schooling system has long been hidden from view – despite the fact that an under-educated population threatens not just the potential of individual learners, but the economic and social stability of the country.