Basic education minister Angie Motshekga has revealed that close to 160 000 pupils in seven provinces have not returned to class this year.

About 50 000 of them are in primary school while over 108 000 are in high school. The education system might be self-contributing to the high number of pupils who are either dropping out or unable to return for various reason.

Motshekga said, among the provinces that provided figures, Northwest and Western Cape had 700 pupils in special schools who did not return. She said 456 teachers and 2,298 pupils had contracted Covid-19 since the beginning of the academic year.

Meanwhile, it was revealed that the highest number of schools that did not return to full daily attendance were from Gauteng. Basic education spokesperson, Elijah Mhlanga say “they suspect that some have enrolled in private schools, others might have gone to TVET colleges and others might have moved to other provinces. By the end of the term, we will know exactly.”