Cape Town - The Department of Basic Education has come under fire from MPs who say it is not being fully transparent in its data on learner drop-outs following a briefing to the portfolio committee on basic education.
The department’s data showed that 400 000 children who started Grade 1 in 2011 (1 177 089) did not make it to Grade 12 (775 630) in 2022.
Delivering the DBE presentation, researcher and adviser to the department, Martin Gustafsson, said: “Why can’t we say that for example 100 000 learners drop out between Grades 1 and 2, or that 400 000 youths did not reach Grade 12?
Because repetition, which is especially high in Grade 1, inflates the denominator.
“Imagine if all Grade 1 learners repeated that grade, and no one repeated Grade 2. Then Grade 1 enrolment would be twice Grade 2 enrolment, even if no one was dropping out. ‘Dropping out’ (is) ideally understood as (an) undesirable departure from the schooling system.
“This should thus exclude, in particular, movement to a TVET college.
(It is) somewhat difficult to measure, a large gap being lack of synergy between the DBE and DHET systems, meaning school-college movements are not properly tracked. Plans exist to address this.”
African Christian Democratic Party MP Marie Elizabeth Sukers said the reality of the drop-out rate on the ground was worrying.
“We see these learners in the streets, they are not in school, (or) in a TVET college. We have a serious problem with drop-outs.
“What we have is preliminary data rather than in-depth research.
It is also not the result of a comprehensive research programme. So we don’t really understand the drop-out phenomenon. We need to understand what is at the heart of this.”
EFF MP Ngwanamakwetle Reneiloe Mashabela asked what system the department had in place in terms of an early warning system for drop-outs.
“Has there been a comparison between fee-paying schools and non-fee-paying schools? If so, what are the details? What is the explanation for the reliance on telephonic surveys? What are the primary forms the department uses to get its data because I would have thought primarily the department should rely on its own statistics? The presentation highlights that there is no data on the transition of learners from school to TVET, which may inflate what we view as dropping out. Why has this not been addressed?” she asked.
DA MP Anna Maria van Zyl added: “The fact is that half of our children drop out, adding to the unemployment rate rather than contributing to the economy, and we don’t know where or who these children are. The department needs to do more.”
Basic Education Minister Angie Motshegka said it was a serious matter and they would present the data or information requested if necessary.
“We don’t necessarily collect all information all the time but we are, as any other research, focused but when there is a request for information we will (provide it).
“But clearly we all know as social activists there’s always a correlation between poverty and education outcomes. That’s why, without mistake, when you go to gang-ridden areas, you would find social problems that would affect children,” she said.
Initiatives to keep learners in school included school nutrition, psycho-social support, enforcing no-fee schools and tighter monitoring of school participation, among others, the DBE said.
Cape Times