Time to trace school dropouts

South Africa could be dealing with another pandemic soon, that of school dropouts.

Disruptions to the school year has resulted in close to a million children leaving school, the highest level in 20 years.

With schools having reopened today, an organisation called the Zero Dropout campaign is calling on education authorities to rapidly track and trace absent learners to find out why they haven’t returned.

Rahima Essop of Zero Dropout says the lockdown has worsened the social conditions for pupils, forcing many to drop out.