WATCH: School readiness for the 2022 academic year

Rotational timetabling will continue at the start of the new academic year which means that disruptions to everyday attendance are going to continue. Rahima Essop, Head of Communications and Advocacy at the Zero Dropout Campaign, speaks to SABC News about the long term impact of disruptions to education and learning losses. The long-term effects of disruptions to schooling for today’s primary school children may lead to dropout when they reach Grades 10, 11 and 12. Pandemic-era learning losses are going to be felt by young people whose learning was disrupted at a critical phase in their education. Reintegrating learners back into class, accelerated learning programmes and effective monitoring of signs of disengagement are going to be important to retain learners when schools reopen.