School Dropouts: A Rebellious student versus an archaic educational system

At some point in our lives, I think everybody has thought of dropping out of school or had dropped out of school for various reasons. Perhaps you were the overzealous “A+” student who grew enough confidence that presumed it could help you take over the world without needing anybody’s assistance; your intellect usually did its charismatic appearance on your behalf. You were ‘’too cool for school,’’ and therefore, you dropped out. Or maybe you were the library geek who was considered a slow learner in class because of medical psychological reasons and you just couldn’t take the bullying that accompanied you for merely being different. Your insecurities got the best of you and so you dropped out. It could be that you were the kid who came from an impoverished family and you were burdened by the news that your studies needed to be paused for a while just so that your family can go to bed without burdening themselves on the cost of a textbook. So, you dropped out.

Whatever the case may be, whether you’re young or old, black or green many of us at some stage in our lives had either considered dropping out during our schooling careers, or you possibly became part of the statistics that are so heavily debated about today.

School dropouts are considered a social taboo in South African society because part of our patriotism is rooted in the way we view our education system and the critical role we assume it plays in shaping every aspect of our country. As much as education is considered the key to success, why does the “key” tend to open rigid doors that produce a youth unemployment rate out of control?

The answer to this may not be so apparent; however, maybe it just takes a bit of digging to realise that there’s more to this phenomenon than what meets the eye.

According to the Stats SA General Household Survey of the Year 2014, there were around 14 million learners who were at an educational institution, 783,545 students had enrolled at public and private Universities. Drawing from the statistics:

• 23.5% of learners stated the money was the main reason they couldn’t attend a learning institution.
• 11.6% of learners stated they couldn’t attend a learning institution due to family commitments
• 10.4% of learners stated they couldn’t attend a learning institution due to an illness or a disability
• 9.4% of learners stated that having an education is useless
• 7.8% of learners stated they are content with the level of education that they have completed in their capacity.
• 6.7% of learners stated they are working at home
• 0.5% of learners expressed their difficulty in getting to school.

Source: GHS 2014.

As we travel through the timeline of the year 2021, we observe an increase in school dropout rates during the COVID pandemic, which again was cited by the General Household Survey. Up to 750,000 dropped out of school during the pandemic, about three times the pre-pandemic level which was previously sitting at 230,000 dropouts.

• There were approximately 13 million children from Grade 1-12 in South Africa
• 650,000-750,000 learners aged 7-17 years of age were not attending school by May 2021. This is an increase to half a million compared to pre-pandemic times.
• There was a decline in the attendance rate amongst the above age group from 98% in 2018 to 94% in May 2021.
• It has been cited that learner drop-out rates are the highest since household surveys started to monitor this phenomenon in 2002.?
• School attendance is at the lowest level it has been in 20 years.
• The lowest return to schools was observed in both the Eastern Cape (92%) and the Free State (87%)
• The highest number stems from Grade 8, 9, 10, and 12 learners.
• 1.5 Million children from low-income households had not received their daily meals, dramatically impacting households to take advantage of quality primary education.

Source: GHS & Groundup 2021

In October 2020, The Department of Education highlighted that most schools saw absenteeism rise from 10%-25% when reopening in July 2020. By October 2020, it could not account for 320,000 of its pupils. The most cited reasons for non-attendance include financial hindrances and food poverty.

Because we live in a fast-paced world, with the labour market that is continuously looking for innovative drive amongst a supposed educated youth, these statistics paint a rather frightening picture, one which could propel some sort of intervention to happen as to redeem what may seem like a lost generation in a broken education system.

However, the government had tried doing its part as we note various strategic executions, used as a trial n’ error mechanism to deal with the crisis at hand. For example, we’ve bared witness to pass marks been lowered over the years which have left many questioning the quality of education, we’ve seen a few university’s become lenient in terms of entry for degree studies, but most importantly we’ve seen how most of these strategies have failed to achieve its set goal continuously.

How then do we tackle this national calamity which sees the majority of our youth in this country crumbling at its knees within the education system??

According to Adam Toren, a mentor, advisor, and co-founder of YoungEntrepreneur.com, we might be doing this whole thing wrong. We’re so backward that the scary part is we do not even realize it. In a 2014 article he featured in Entrepreneur.com (2014), “You have access to nearly everything around the globe thanks to the beauty and speed of technology, and you can learn almost anything online. Many wonder if college is still the speed of success, stay in school or drop out? Some Entrepreneurs are turning to the latter.” He added.

And Adam might just have a point.

We’re progressing into a world of futuristic education that revolves around entrepreneurship, skillsets, and talent, predominately becoming the focus of potentially grooming a younger generation where the old fashioned textbooks are not so much of a tool used to measure a child’s intellect, let alone their capabilities in an innovative world. Billionaire dropout, Jan Koum who also happened to be the co-founder of a great communication tool we know today as ‘WhatsApp’ had a bit to share with Forbes Magazine when asked about this ongoing trend, “When these incredible tools of knowledge and learning are available to the whole world, formal education becomes less important. We should expect to see the emergence of a new kind of Entrepreneur who has acquired most of their knowledge through self-exploration”.

Bear in mind that not every school dropout is going to become the next Rich Branson, Jan Koum or Ray Kroc for that matter; however, what we’re trying to highlight though is perhaps we need to inspire our youth in a learning pattern that doesn’t necessarily involve a dusty chalkboard and outdated subjects. Maybe it’s about time we stop assuming success is molded by a classroom when it only began behind a grubby garage for many of our business gurus.