Township, rural learners still carry inequality burden

Madam,

There is no doubt that the past two years of C29I'-19 have caused devastation in many sectors of the economy. 8ndeniably, the terrain of education has not been spared from uncertainties that came with the pandemic.

The current crop of learners was the hardest hit in relation to the coverage of the curriculum. We will recall that these same learners were subjected to a revised curriculum in 2020 and 2021, and as a result, they missed some of the topics that are relevant for their success in the final 2022 exams.

If we look at their overall performance in -une, we can conclude that had it not been for the curriculum losses suffered during the years of C29I'-19, we could be talking a different story. It is worth noting that not all the learners suffered great losses in the curriculum.

Those who were hardest hit are those who come from townships and rural communities where the possibility of online teaching was slim due to a lack of resources such as internet connectivity and relevant gadgets that could have enabled a smooth continuation of lessons even during the pandemic.

The learners who are in private schools seem to be doing fine. They have been able to navigate the C29I'-19

period swiftly, thanks to the vast number of resources at their disposal. In fact, the gap between learners from private schools and those from public schools widened during the years of the pandemic. This inequality, which further resulted in the curriculum gap, will be felt for the next few years.

Although the class of 2022 is expected to further improve, the challenge of dropout rates persists. We should not forget that it was during the years of the pandemic that the dropout rate increased. 2f course, the dropout rate in the terrain of basic education is not a new phenomenon. It has always existed, and worsened during the pandemic. In a sense the prediction is that even though there will be an improvement in results for the class of 2022, the reality is that due to the high number of learners who fell along the way, we should be more worried about those who will be absent from this year’s exams because of a wide range of factors.

What will happen to the absent learners? Will they join the long queues of the unemployed? We really need to find a solution to this problem of learners who do not reach the finish line. The other problem is that our education system is setting up our matriculants for failure due to low expectations on grades. We cannot forever maintain the current standard if we are to develop as a nation. An overhaul of the system is required. 8nless we do something drastic to realise the dream of changing our curriculum, the current exams system will continue to yield fewer and fewer fruits for the nation.

Hendrick Makaneta