Education experts propose radical solutions to school dropout crisis

EDUCATIONAL experts are raising the alarm about the state of education after statistics revealed 422 000 pupils who started Grade 1 in 2014 never completed Grade 12.

Professionals are calling for comprehensive reforms addressing mental health support, curriculum redesign, and teacher training to combat the high dropout rates that perpetuate cycles of poverty and unemployment.

Professor Labby Ramrathan said the statistics provided by Basic Education minister Siviwe Gwarube - which indicated that 422 000 pupils who enrolled in Grade 1 in 2014 and did not complete Grade 12 in 2025 - were of great concern.

“The statistics give a sense of the health of the school education system. However, the reality is that, for various reasons, school dropout occurs. Those that dropout from school have very little hope of improving the quality of their lives and, as such, sustains the level of poverty resulting in them continuing to be a state dependent group.   

“Dropout is not only from the perspective of the pupil. Our basic education system continues to perpetuate poor schooling experiences with extremely high class sizes where very little learning can take place. Their foundations are very weak and as such they cannot cope with higher levels of study,” he added.

Ramrathan said while the number of pupils who received Bachelor’s pass grades was high, many may not be considered for public university admissions because of not being able to achieve a pass grade required for selection.

“The high number of Bachelor’s grade passes does not necessarily reflect the quality of school education. 

“As widely suggested, attention needs to be given to foundation and intermediate phase schooling. More importantly, the overloaded curriculum needs serious changes to focus more on the various literacy developments, including communication literacy, digital literacy, financial literacy and science literacy,” added Ramrathan.

Professor Murthee Maistry said the statistics raised serious questions about the true state of education despite the KwaZulu Natal’s (KZN’s) record-breaking performance.

“Matric teachers did not miraculously become better at teaching, nor can any particular cohort be significantly smarter than the previous one,” he said.

Maistry said KZN’S strong performance was encouraging, given its history of underperformance, but warned against unhealthy competition between provinces. 

“There is a concern that provinces may be holding back or preventing weaker pupils from advancing to Grade 11 and 12. An unfortunate word to describe this is ‘culling’,” he said, adding that this practice required urgent investigation.

Data tracking the 2025 cohort reveals a sharp decline in learner numbers through the Further Education and Training (FET) phase. 

“In 2023, there were 1 187 468 pupils in Grade 10. That dropped to 997 126 in Grade 11 in 2024, and further to 778 793 in Grade 12 in 2025. In essence, 408 675 pupils did not transition from Grade 10 to Grade 12. These are significant figures of lost children.”

He said while some pupils may have moved into TVET colleges, enrolment figures do not support this explanation. 

“This suggests that the schooling system may be failing a significant number of pupils, most likely those from poor and vulnerable communities who are powerless to resist this trend,” he said. 

Maistry added that the 2025 cohort originally began Grade 1 with more than 1.2 million pupils, underscoring the scale of attrition over time.

He said a school’s resources played a decisive role in a pupil's success. 

“Well-resourced schools with better-qualified teachers, libraries and management teams consistently outperform poorer, often dysfunctional schools, especially when it comes to Bachelor’s passes. This is not because poor children are weaker, but because they are not receiving the same quality of teaching.”

Maistry also highlighted ongoing concerns around key gateway subjects. 

“Maths, physical science and accounting remain areas of underperformance. In 2025, maths and accounting results declined compared to 2024.” 

He stressed that pupil performance was shaped by multiple factors, including teaching quality, exam structure and marking standards. 

“Difficulty in maths at high school is often a symptom of poor teaching that began in the Foundation Phase,” he added.

Despite these challenges, Maistry expressed cautious optimism. 

“KZN results have been on an upward trend, which is encouraging. Performances close to 2025 levels are achievable going forward, and this positive sentiment filters into schools.”

Addressing public concerns about the credibility of the matric results, Maistry firmly rejected claims of political interference. 

“We must be cautious about alarmist pronouncements that the education system was collapsing or that results were manipulated for political ends. Umalusi would never tolerate that, and the DBE had never requested artificial manipulation of results,” he said.

“Umalusi plays a powerful watchdog role. The Grade 12 results we approved were a fair reflection of the performance of pupils, and the public can trust the credibility of the matric certificate,” said Maistry. 

Prof Ramodungoane Tabane, an education expert at Unisa, said there were various causes that could contribute to the high number of children not making it to matric. 

“The reasons can be psycho-social that can be due to broken family structures where pupils might be lacking support. In cases of disturbed families with absent parents, pupils have to fend for their siblings as breadwinners contribute to this.

“Mental health issues such as neurodiverse disorders like Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), Specific Learning Disorder (SLD) and childhood depression that were missed in early stages are exacerbated by a poorly resourced education system,” said Tabane.

“Poorly trained teachers who lack the understanding of the importance of early detection through various screening tools that the Department of Basic Education (DBE) has introduced like the Screening Identification Assessment and Support (SIAS) policy also contribute to pupils dropping out.

“The goal of the SIAS is to create inclusive education where all pupils, including those in special schools, get appropriate support, aligning with South Africa's Constitution and the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.

“There should be a concerted effort of encouraging multi-sectoral intervention that works with the DBE. This multi-pronged approach must be housed in the DBE where educational psychologist, speech therapist, occupational therapist and social workers work together to focus on pupils in the schools to support and capacitate the School Based Support Teams (SBST) to come up with proper practical pupil individual programmes so that appropriate referrals can be done to relevant professionals through early identification and intervention,” he added.

Tabane said teacher training should be interrogated.

“This noble profession needs reconfiguration, focusing on inclusive education, life orientation, psychology, and sociology to equip teachers to understand the circumstances that facilitate learning, rather than primarily teaching subject content.

“Teachers must be able to identify learning difficulties so they can spot neurodiverse disorders or psycho-social ills like when a child is hungry or anxious and cannot learn,” he added.

Dr Erna de Lange, chief operating officer of the KwaZulu-Natal Governing Body Foundation, said children dropped out of school for various reasons.

“The dropout rate is a huge concern. Children quit when they lose interest or feel overwhelmed. If learning is not exciting, they do not attend school. Overcrowded classrooms are not fun. 

“The curriculum must be reviewed. It is too much, too soon, too fast. Grade R to Grade 3 must be focused on language skills, reading and the language of numeracy. This is the phase that forms the foundation for all future learning. One cannot build a house on a poor foundation.

“Children are also pulled out of school to assist with family chores and in many cases because of early marriage or schoolgirl pregnancy. The stats on the latter are quite astonishing and KZN was the leading province. 

“Another reason was learning difficulties and the lack of support for learning disabled children. The system must slow down to accommodate pupils who experience learning difficulties.

“At present, they are pushed through the sausage machine in the hope that, like vienna sausages, they will all come out the same on the other side,” she added.

De Lange said there had to be more options for pupils from an early age.

“Some pupils show a greater interest in more mechanical things like car engines, or music, or information technology.

“Every child must be able to read and calculate but within his/her field of interest. We are already living in the aftermath of a high pass rate and an even higher unemployment rate.

“Our unemployment is likely to get worse and so will crime. It is of very serious concern as pupils attain a certificate after matric that does not provide them with job opportunities. Passing matric does not make them employable. Their skill set is limited. We need urgent reforms to turn the dropout rate around and ensure every child who enters Grade 1 finishes school after 12 years,” added De Lange.

 NAPTOSA KwaZulu-Natal spokesperson Thirona Moodley said the achievement reflected the resilience of teachers, the determination of pupils and the impact of focused provincial support, despite deep-rooted systemic challenges.

She emphasised that the results were particularly significant for teachers, many of whom worked under extremely difficult conditions.

“For teachers, the 90.6% pass rate is a powerful affirmation that their work – often done in overcrowded classes, with limited materials and resources – can deliver outstanding results. KZN’s performance demonstrates that a more stable, better-managed system is possible.”

However, Moodley stressed that success should not be measured by pass rates alone.

“Our expectations go beyond the pass rate. We want more equitable resourcing so that pupils in schools currently receiving far below the national norms and standards allocation are not left behind. Strong syllabus coverage, structured revision, and psychosocial and academic support are of equal importance.”

Moodley noted that while integrity breaches were reported in some provinces nationally, NAPTOSA was satisfied that provinces exams were not compromised.

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