Impact of COVID-19 on school attendance in South Africa. Analysis of sociodemographic characteristics of learners.

The outbreak of COVID-19 had resulted in the complete closure of schools in nearly all countries across the globe. However, reopening after prolonged closure may adversely affect the school attendance of learners, with long-term implications for life outcomes. Given the limited studies on the subject, this study aims at examining the impact of COVID-19 on the school attendance of learners in South Africa and how this outcome is exacerbated by underlying socioeconomic factors using National Income Dynamics Study-Coronavirus Rapid Mobile Survey data (NIDS-CRAM). The findings reveal that COVID-19 has led to a sharp drop of 48.2% in the school attendance of learners following the reopening of schools after the state of national disaster-based lockdown. The study has demonstrated that the impact of COVID-19 on the school attendance of learners varies according to socioeconomic factors such as gender, race, geographical area, family size, and the economic status of the learners' parents and provincial location. Sociodemographic characteristics such as African race, coloured race, Asian race, female gender, rural location, large household size, and Eastern Cape are associated with lower school attendance among learners. Based on these findings, educational-based policy needs to include these sociodemographic factors to promote a high school attendance rate among learners. This may include a shift from a blanket approach to geographical, racial, family, and gender-based interventions.