More than half of all pupils in grades 10 to 12 are overage

More than half of all pupils in grades 10 to 12 are overage for their grade, with one in five being three years older or more.

This is one of the shocking findings of a study conducted by academics from the Research on Socio-Economic Policy (Resep) unit at the University of Stellenbosch.

Researchers Servaas van der Berg, Chris van Wyk, Rebecca Selkirk and Heleen Hofmeyr said the large proportion of overage pupils was the result of high rates of repeating grades, which is common in SA.

"Overage learners are an often overlooked feature of the South African schooling system," the researchers said.

They estimated that the annual cost of having repeaters in the system could be between R20bn and R29bn because more teachers needed to be employed to teach a larger number of pupils.

They argued that if the 56% repetition rate in grade 10, for example, were to halve, about R2bn could be saved each year and distributed to other items in the education budget.

The report, titled "Learner flows through schools: using high-quality administrative data to understand education system performance", was discussed with officials of the department of basic education on Tuesday.

It will be officially released tomorrow and will also be available on Resep's website.

The researchers used the administrative data system, SA-Sams (South African School Administration and Management System) to find out how many pupils were still in the school system after repeating at least once.

The report says the government's repetition policy, which states that no child should be held back more than once in any of the education phases, "does not necessarily keep repetition rates low, nor is this policy always fully complied with by many schools".

The education phases include foundation (grades R-3), intermediate (grades 4-6), senior (grades 7-9) and further education and training (grades 10-12).

Though one in 10 grade 1 pupils are overage and one in three pupils are overage by grade 4, repetition is much more common in high school than primary school.

By the time pupils reach grades 10-12, more than 20% are three or more years overage.

"This points to high levels of inefficiency within the system - what should take learners one year in terms of acquiring the skills and knowledge required to progress to the next grade takes many South African learners two, three or even four years in some cases."

The researchers said many pupils who are held back, especially in grades 10-12, "never manage to acquire the knowledge and skills required to be promoted to the next grade, and many go on to drop out of the schooling system entirely".

According to the study, pupils seem to get "stuck" in grade 10 for two or more years, and "only a fraction manage to make it to grade 12".

Van der Berg told the Sunday Times that repeating grades was caused by pupils' "poor quality learning".

He added: "One should not necessarily say it's the teacher's fault if learning does not take place."

He said repetition was higher at poor schools.

Pupils seem to get 'stuck' in grade 10 for two or more years, and 'only a fraction manage to make it to grade 12'

"Children who perform poorly may lose motivation. They might continue formally with school but they may no longer feel they are going to be successful."

Professor Labby Ramrathan from the University of KwaZulu-Natal said: "We keep on blaming the system when the spotlight should be turned on learners and parents.

"Yes, the teaching and learning environment is very poor but lessons are being provided and learners should make the most of it."

But Felix Maringe, an honorary professor of higher education at the University of the Witwatersrand, blamed repetition on poor teaching, especially the teaching of maths and reading.

"Children fall behind in the first three grades and never catch up, resulting in repeating before they go to grade 4," said Maringe.

"Many of them become more confused with each year of repeating."

Said Maringe: "The cost of repeating is substantial and should not only be measured in monetary terms. There is substantial emotional and social damage that happens to overage learners which has lasting effects on the quality of life for these learners.

"They also live with the stigma of failure throughout their lives."

He said that in a study he conducted in Mpumalanga, "overage, repeating and the inability to read were the major causes of school dropout".