School dropout rate is concerning says education expert Mary Metcalfe

John Maytham speaks to Mary Metcalfe, senior research associate at University of Johannesburg.

• The 2021 matric pass rate stands at 76.4%

• It's an improvement of 0.2% on the 2020 matric pass rate

• The Democratic Alliance claims the real pass rate is 51% because it does not into consideration the high drop out rate

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The 2021 National Senior Certificate overall pass rate stands at 76.4%, an improvement of 0.2% from the 2020 matric pass rate.

In announcing the results, Basic Education Minister, Angie Motshekga said that the matric pass rates had consistently improved over the last 10 years, from 60% in 2009 to above 70% over the last few years.

But the Democratic Alliance isn't satisfied with the results, saying the ‘real’ matric pass rate is 51.4%, as the official results do not take into account the high dropout rate.

The 2021 learner dropout between grade 10 to 12 is 32.7%.

The Northern Cape has the highest school drop out rate in the country, with 44.7% of learners that were enrolled in grade 10 in 2019 not sitting for the Grade 12 final exams in 2021.

Former Gauteng Education MEC, Mary Metcalfe who is now a senior research associate at University of Johannesburg says the high drop out rate is very concerning.

We don't have detailed enough information about each learner across the country and whether or not they are repeating, and there is very high levels of repetition.

Mary Metcalfe - Senior research associate at University of Johannesburg

The DBE (Department of Basic Education) is supposed to be implementing something which is an individual tracking system, and hopefully one day it will be there.

Mary Metcalfe - Senior research associate at University of Johannesburg

RELATED: Western Cape - home to SA's top three maths boffs - hits 81.2% matric pass rate

As a country, we need to recognise that we've got a dropout problem...

Mary Metcalfe - Senior research associate at University of Johannesburg

We need an earlier certification point that streams learners into where they may be more comfortable, rather than pursuing this bachelors pass, which isn't for everyone.

Mary Metcalfe - Senior research associate at University of Johannesburg

Scroll to the top of the article to listen to the interview.

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