AI tools aim to help SA tackle early dropout rate

ARTIFICIAL intelligence is increasingly being explored in South African schools as a tool to identify struggling learners before disengagement becomes permanent.

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While matric pass rates have hit record highs, experts warn that this masks a deeper dropout problem that begins years earlier in the schooling journey.

Of the 1.2 million learners who started Grade 1 in 2014, only about 778 000 reached matric in 2025, according to education statistics.

Attendance is nearly universal up to age 15 (96.2%) but drops to 64.3% by age 18, the typical matric exit age, the General Household Survey 2024 reports.

Just over 60% of learners complete Grade 12 and obtain the National Senior Certificate, according to the Department of Basic Education’s Grade Promotion, Repetition and Dropping Out 2018 - 2021 report.