SOUTH AFRICA: Drop-out rate alarming

The high drop-out rate at universities in South Africa is cause for concern, MPs heard last week, reports Independent Online. Higher Education South Africa chair, Professor Theuns Eloff, told Parliament's education portfolio committee that the vice-chancellor's association was "not happy" with the current drop-out rate of up to 35% at some universities.

Eloff said the bulk of those dropping out were first-year students, who generally left the institutions at which they had registered before June, for a variety of reasons. According to a document distributed by HESA among members at the briefing, "financial need is one of the major causes of the high drop-out rate".

He highlighted the poor preparedness of some students for higher education courses, noting only a small percentage of school eavers had passes in mathematics and science, and said that students from all backgrounds also read and wrote more poorly than they did five years ago.
Too many students also took too long to finish their degrees.

According to the briefing document, well under one-third of students complete their degrees in the regulation time, and only one in three graduates within four years.
Full report on the Independent Online site