School’s out

𝗧𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘆 𝗼𝗿𝗶𝗴𝗶𝗻𝗮𝗹𝗹𝘆 𝗮𝗶𝗿𝗲𝗱 𝗼𝗻 𝟮𝟳 𝗠𝗮𝗿𝗰𝗵 𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟮. As if South Africa’s staggering unemployment rate weren’t bad enough, a crisis in the education centre is making matter worse. Young people are dropping out of school at alarming rates, simply to join the ranks of the unemployed and unemployable. It’s a situation exacerbated by COVID-19, with closed schools leading to an alarming increase in the dropout rate. Government says parents are partly to blame, but at a time support was needed most, some pupils feel let down by the Basic Education Department and their teachers.