There has been call for reintegration programmes to be ramped up at schools in order to get learners back into class.

The Zero Dropout Campaign’s spokesperson Rahima Essop warns that the longer learners stay away there is a greater likelihood they will not return. It comes as a NIDS-CRAM survey shows that a year of schooling has been lost during the Covid-19 pandemic and the dropout rate has tripled. An extra half a million learners have been lost.

Essop says learners who have not returned to school should be tracked down to ascertain why they haven’t come back. It has been found that learners become disengage and eventually drop out because of their home, school or community environment.

Essop notes that young people who return to school should be provided proper support which is not only academic help but psychosocial assistance as well.

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