Education
(a) What is the total number of learners living on farms who have dropped out of school in (i) 2014, (ii) 2015, (iii) 2016, (iv) 2017, (v) 2018 and (vi) 2019 to date and (b) what are the reasons for dropping out of school?
16. The WCED tracks learner enrolments at schools on the CEMIS system that is managed and maintained by the schools as learners enter and/or leave a school.
When a learner leaves a school, or has been absent for more than 10 consecutive days without any contact (according to national policy), the school “exits” the learner on the CEMIS system but this does not necessarily mean they have “dropped out”.
Reasons for exiting include death, transfer to another school in another province, transfer to an TVET college, or to a private school, inter alia. It is thus not possible to answer the question posed as one cannot assume that every learner exiting the system has dropped out of school. The figures we do have do not include those who re-enter the system which could create a misleading picture.
