04 Jul 2019

Parliament has been informed that a total of 174 pupils dropped out of school from seven primary schools in the Ghanzi North constituency in 2017.

Answering a question in Parliament on July 3, Assistant Minister of Basic Education, Mr Thato Kwerepe said out of the 174, 77 were female, and 97 were male.

He however said so far 65 pupils had returned to school to continue with their studies. 

Still in Ghanzi North, Minister Kwerepe said that 72 pupils were reported to have dropped out of school from the two secondary schools in 2017.

Mr Kwerepe said 32 were female, while 40 were male,   adding that so far only 22 had returned to school.

As a way of addressing the problem, Mr Kwerepe said his ministry was working  with the community, social services and parents to educate students on the importance of completing education.

In addition, he said that the ministry was working with the Ministry Local Government and Rural Development to conduct farm visits and address farmers and farm workers on the importance of allowing children to attend school.

Mr Kwerepe said the ministry  also participated in circles of support programmes that tracked drop-outs and encouraged them to go back to school. 

The assistant minister added that they partnered with Non-governmental organisations such as Window of Hope in Ghanzi to address the issue.

“It is also apparent from the data that we need to improve hostel care for our learners and to also look into alternative ways of providing education to small remote communities to ensure the proper implementation of our inclusive education policy,” he said.

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