Question NW788 to the Minister of Basic Education
09 April 2024 - NW788
Abrahams, Ms ALA to ask the Minister of Basic Education
Whether her department keeps record of the total number of learners who receive the child support grant and dropped out of school once they turn 18 years old; if not, why not; if so, what are the relevant details in respect of each (a) grade and (b) province for the (i) 2021, (ii) 2022 and (iii) 2023 school years?
Reply:
The Department of Basic Education (DBE) collects child support grants information as part of the biographical data of learners. However, it is self-reported and dependent on learners (or parents) providing the information. Currently the DBE is unable to provide a response in terms of dropout learners as the Department is still in a process of tracking learners who might have moved to other sectors (such as the Department of Higher Education and Training) as they are not considered as dropouts.
The data provided below are learners who are 18 years and indicated that they received social grants and still attending school for the period indicated. This includes ordinary and Special Education Needs (SEN) learners attending Public Ordinary, Special and Vocational Schools. Learners from Grade 7 to 9 are mainly attending Vocational and Special schools.
Table 1: Number of 18 year-old learners that received child support grant in 2022
Table 2: Number of 18 year-old learners that received child support grant in 2023
