[LISTEN] Should the dropout rate be presented alongside the matric pass rate?

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.