All harm, no benefit: the only result of school closures is 750,000 dropouts Experts say Covid-19 had no impact, yet a year of learning has been lost and the dropout rate is at a 20-year high 08 July 2021 - 20:04 Three quarters of a million children have dropped out of school in SA since the pandemic began in March last year. Those who haven’t dropped out have lost a year of learning due to lost school days since then... This article is free to read if you register or sign in. If you have already registered or subscribed, please sign in to continue.