At least 75,000 grade 7 and grade 12 pupils are projected to drop out of school this year.
This startling projection was made to parliament's portfolio committee by the department of basic education's director-general Hubert Mweli. He said in a 68-page report that KwaZulu-Natal is expected to be the most affected with as many as 57,249 possible dropouts in the two grades.
The report further indicated that the attendance levels of grade 7 pupils in the Western Cape was at a low 46.4% while the Eastern Cape had recorded 67.8%. Other provinces hovered around 72% to 87% when it came to grade 7 attendance.
The report projected that between 5% and 15% of grade 7s in the Western Cape were expected to drop out as a result.
In matric, the department projected that as many as 18,708 matriculants could drop out in KZN, while Gauteng, Free State and the Eastern Cape were projected to lose between 1,087 and 1,195 grade 12s. North West and the Northern Cape were predicted to lose 640 and 580 grade 12s respectively.
The SA Democratic Teachers Union (Sadtu) said its own survey had already indicated that there was a problem of possible dropouts as schools had lost contact with 29% of pupils.
“That's why we called for the schools to be closed in July because there were high community infections and low learner turnouts in schools,” media officer Nomusa Cembi said.
“The question we have is what is the department doing to ensure that it locates those pupils and ensure that they are back in class. We've not seen any campaign that seeks to achieve that.”
The department has also indicated it does not have the required funds, estimated at R1bn, to appoint substitute teachers for the 22,000 teachers who are not returning to class due to underlying medical conditions during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Chairperson of the committee, Bongiwe Mbinqo-Gigaba, said: “Obviously, you have teachers with comorbidities who are at home and who must get paid because it's not their fault and there's a need for substitute teachers but the reality is that according to the department, that would cost over a billion rand.
“Our view is that you can't compromise the grade 12s and grade 7s, least [of all] amidst the situation we are finding ourselves in. Then we said dig money [up] or try to find money wherever, and make sure that these two grades are a priority.”
The department's spokesperson, Elijah Mhlanga said if they replaced all the teachers who were allowed to work from home it would cost the department R650m a month.
“It must be noted that there will not be a one-to-one substitution of all educators with comorbidities. Factors taken into account when determining the need for substitutes include that not all learners attend at the same time due to social distancing, thus some demand for teachers is absorbed within the differentiated time table,” Mhlanga said.
Cembi said Sadtu demanded that R2.1bn from the department's budget that was reprioritised for Covid-19 emergency relief, be returned.
“There's already a strain on teachers, especially those teaching specialised subjects, as there's now too much load on them. If you don't have teachers who are fundamental in teaching and learning, are you now saying pupils have to teach themselves,” she asked
The National Teachers' Organisation of SA (Naptosa) has accused the department of lack of planning.
Naptosa executive member Basil Manuel said they were concerned that most teachers who are at home due to comorbidities were not being effectively used while at home.
Contact us
Do you know of any learners (between grade 7 and grade 12) who have had to drop out from their studies this year? Are you one of them? We would like to tell your story. Please contact Yoliswa Sobuwa (SobuwaY@sowetan.co.za) or Peter Ramothwala (RamothwalaP@sowetan.co.za)
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