He is CONCERNED about the high number of boys dropping out of school, from Grade 10 to matric who end up joining gangs.
This concern was expressed by the Deputy Minister in the Department of Basic Education, Dr. Reginah Mhaule, recently when officials of the department appeared before the Parliamentary committees.
He said that from Grade 1 to Grade 10, the number of students dropping out of school is small, compared to Grade 10 to matric.
“We need to support the boys who drop out of school and some join gangs. Previously, our programs focused on girls, who dropped out of school because they were pregnant, now we have to focus on boys,” he said.
He said that even when he walks in the community, he finds boys sitting around doing nothing.
She was also proved by Ms Priscilla Ogunbanjo, the director of examinations in the department, said many students drop out of school between Grade 10 and matric.
He said that in some grades, including Grade 4 and others, there are many students who repeat classes because of failure.
“Some of the failing grades are Grade 8 and 10, where we see an increase in the number of repeaters. In other grades including Grade 11, there are challenges in repeating classes,” he said.
It has been reported about the number of students who start Grade 1, who end up not reaching matric every year. This becomes more apparent when the matric results are announced, where the difference is that a lot of students do not finish school on time.
Every year there are about 1 million students who start Grade 1, but at matric he found out that there are about 700,000 who write the exams. What has been revealed by department officials is that some students leave schools to pursue their studies in TVET colleges. Some die and others end up dropping out of school due to various circumstances, including pregnancy.
The department was ordered to find out where the students who do not finish school go.
Dr Mhaule said that even though students leave school, every year the number of matric students increases.
Another thing that emerged from this meeting is that the number of students who write matric in secret is decreasing, which means that there are many who write this grade at the right time.
“The decrease in the number of people writing privately shows that the department has opened an opportunity for those who do not have matric, to write. This indicates that the education departments in the country are open,” said Ms. Ogunbanjo.