Staff Reporter
Ensuring that children in primary school attend school every day is one effective way of reducing the number of those who drop out, Basic Education Minister Angie Motshekga said in Bloemfontein this week.
While education authorities in the Free State say the province has not reported a high drop-out rate amongst learners since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic which has forced schools to close several times, the minister said parents and communities at large should help ensure learners stay in school.
“It all depends on the role of community members,” said Motshekga when she visited schools in the Mangaung area on Thursday to monitor progress on efforts to ensure primary school learners attend school every day following disruptions caused by the pandemic.
She visited Botlehadi Primary School as well as Pholoho and Tswelang Special Schools.
Her last stop was Eunice Primary School.
The minister was accompanied by Free State Education MEC Tate Makgoe.
“If a child who is seven years old is not at school and you as a community member you see that child, it’s important you take responsibility and find out why the child is not in school during school time,” she added.
The visit was part of the minister’s series of visits to schools to monitor teaching and learning in primary schools since they were allowed to receive learners at full capacity in terms of the risk-adjusted differentiated strategy.
The strategy provides for schools to receive all learners at primary school level as part of a gradual return to traditional time tabling.
Motshekga pleaded: “As a parent, if your child is not at school or if your neighbour’s child is not at school, we are pleading that you make sure the constitutional right of that child is realised.”
Makgoe said while the drop-out rate in the Free State could be low, he still wants to see every learner in school because it’s for the sake of their future.
“At this point it’s difficult to quantify the number of learners who have dropped out but we are saying it cannot be a departmental issue alone,” he said.
“We also need to get the buy-in from the parents to ensure learners attend school and not roam the streets.”
