The 2022 Education Statistics Bulletin shows that about 234 647 pupils dropped out at primary level, representing 4.73 percent of the total enrolment.

Of the dropouts, 113 631 are male learners while 121 016 are females. The data means the completion rate now stands at 56 percent from 52 percent in 2018.

Learners in a classroom

The report shows family responsibilities, lack of fees and early pregnancies are the major reasons.

Reads the report in part: “It can be seen that a majority of learners in primary school drop out due to family responsibilities [25.1 percent] female, 26.7 percent male] followed by poverty.

“About 22.9 percent of girls and 20.7 percent of boys dropped out due to poverty, truancy led to dropping out of 16.5 percent of boys and 20.3 percent of girls, 6.8 percent of girls dropped out due to pregnancies while 10 percent were due to long distances.”

A similar situation is noticed at secondary level, where there were a total of 23 063 a drop from 29 122 in the previous academic year, with completion rate averaging 19 percent since 2018.

Civil Society Education Coalition executive director Benedicto Kondowe yesterday said lack of coordination on bursaries, high poverty levels, and generally lack of appreciation for education leads to such cases.

On his part, academician Steve Sharra said the responsibility was beyond the Ministry of Education, calling for a holistic approach to address these issues. “This is where ministries of Local Government, Finance and Economic Affairs and Gender, Community Development and Social Welfare must come in and ensure that households and communities have something to support school-going children,” he said.

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