News / National
Over 190 000 drop out of school yearly
06 Apr 2013 at 16:27hrs | Views
- 10 to 15 percent children have never attended primary school
- Only 47 percent of children proceed to secondary school
- Rural pupils more likely to drop out of school
- Economic crisis blamed
MORE than 190 000 secondary school children and 30 percent of primary school pupils drop out of school each year in Zimbabwe, a Situational Analysis on the Status of Women's and Children's Rights in Zimbabwe (SASWCRZ) report reveals.
According to the study done by the Ministry of Education, Sport, Arts and Culture and Unicef, Zimbabwe's economic crisis has exacted a heavy toll on the nation's education system as poor families are unable to keep children in school.
The number of boys and girls in Zimbabwe who do not receive any form of education is also growing. Estimates indicate that between 10 and 15 percent of children have never attended primary school.
Presently, only 47 percent of children who complete primary school proceed to secondary schools. In 2010 an estimated one million secondary school age children were excluded from school due to failure to pay school fees.
The Minister of Education, Sport, Arts and Culture, David Coltart was unavailable for comment as his secretary revealed that he was out of the country on leave.
However, Minister Coltart once revealed that the huge number of students who drop out of school was worrying.
"It's a very worrying development and that is why we have to make education affordable. For us another priority is to identify talented children so that they do not fall out of the system," Minister Coltart said.
Mrs Tumisang Thabela, the Matabeleland South Provincial Education Director, said her province was working on reducing the number of students who drop out of school.
"We are doing a lot to reduce the number of students who leave school but we have a problem that some of these are beyond our control. We have a number of strategies we have which include BEAM (Basic Education Assistance Module) but I would need to be in my office for me to list them for you. But I can tell you that we are concerned about the situation," she said.
Mr Dan Moyo, the Bulawayo Provincial Education Director, said he was not in a position to comment as he was in Gweru.
Zanu-PF Secretary for Education in the Politburo, Dr Sikhanyiso Ndlovu, said the dropouts were unacceptable and were a sign that the education sector was under-funded.
"It's very unfortunate that we are not taking the education of our children seriously these days. The payments of Beam are forever delayed resulting in some of our children dropping out of school. The money allocated to education in the national budget is also small, we need more money. Right now the money that is set aside for education is just enough to pay teachers and the teachers' is also inadequate anyway.
"There is a need for money to assist the underprivileged students and their families who cannot afford the costs of education. We need to improve the working conditions of teachers so that they become dedicated to their jobs.
"The percentage of children who don't go to school is neither here nor there, education should be mandatory; there should not be even a percentage of children who don't go to school. It is illegal for a child not to go to school, if parents cannot afford they should use Beam, let the Government deal with the Beam headache not the children," said Dr Ndlovu.
It has been found that females and pupils in rural areas are more likely to drop out of school due to poverty, lack of finances, distances between school and home, poor nutrition and informal employment.
Girls of secondary age who drop out of school are vulnerable to early marriages, sexual exploitation and violence through trafficking and sex slavery. When they drop out of school their chances of escaping poverty become limited.
Girls are more disadvantaged as cost recovery measures in the education sector, religious and cultural practices that favour boys contribute to girls falling behind male pupils in acquiring educational levels needed to access leadership positions in society and higher levels of employment.
The Minister of Women Affairs, Gender and Community Development, Dr Olivia Muchena said her ministry was working with the Ministry of Education to stop rural school girls from dropping out of school.
"We have a gender sensitive programme in urban and rural schools that looks at that problem but due to lack of funding the project is not that effective. But I can tell you in short that we are working with the Ministry of Education to arrest the problem of rural school girls dropping out of school," said Dr Muchena.
In terms of the proportion of girls and boys in secondary schools Zimbabwe is the worst performing country out of all the 15 Sadc countries as there are only 35 percent girls in secondary education.
The 2012 Sadc Gender Protocol Barometer however, has a higher figure of almost parity as it found out that enrolment stood at 48 percent girls at secondary school. This shows that the gender gap as secondary school level is rapidly growing.
The enrolment of girls at tertiary level is slightly better than that of secondary school. It stands at 37 percent. This is a result of the various affirmative action initiatives that have seen an increase in women's enrolment especially at teachers' training colleges and vocational institutions.
At tertiary level Zimbabwe is ranked at number 14 out of 15 Sadc countries.
- Only 47 percent of children proceed to secondary school
- Rural pupils more likely to drop out of school
- Economic crisis blamed
MORE than 190 000 secondary school children and 30 percent of primary school pupils drop out of school each year in Zimbabwe, a Situational Analysis on the Status of Women's and Children's Rights in Zimbabwe (SASWCRZ) report reveals.
According to the study done by the Ministry of Education, Sport, Arts and Culture and Unicef, Zimbabwe's economic crisis has exacted a heavy toll on the nation's education system as poor families are unable to keep children in school.
The number of boys and girls in Zimbabwe who do not receive any form of education is also growing. Estimates indicate that between 10 and 15 percent of children have never attended primary school.
Presently, only 47 percent of children who complete primary school proceed to secondary schools. In 2010 an estimated one million secondary school age children were excluded from school due to failure to pay school fees.
The Minister of Education, Sport, Arts and Culture, David Coltart was unavailable for comment as his secretary revealed that he was out of the country on leave.
However, Minister Coltart once revealed that the huge number of students who drop out of school was worrying.
"It's a very worrying development and that is why we have to make education affordable. For us another priority is to identify talented children so that they do not fall out of the system," Minister Coltart said.
Mrs Tumisang Thabela, the Matabeleland South Provincial Education Director, said her province was working on reducing the number of students who drop out of school.
"We are doing a lot to reduce the number of students who leave school but we have a problem that some of these are beyond our control. We have a number of strategies we have which include BEAM (Basic Education Assistance Module) but I would need to be in my office for me to list them for you. But I can tell you that we are concerned about the situation," she said.
Mr Dan Moyo, the Bulawayo Provincial Education Director, said he was not in a position to comment as he was in Gweru.
Zanu-PF Secretary for Education in the Politburo, Dr Sikhanyiso Ndlovu, said the dropouts were unacceptable and were a sign that the education sector was under-funded.
"It's very unfortunate that we are not taking the education of our children seriously these days. The payments of Beam are forever delayed resulting in some of our children dropping out of school. The money allocated to education in the national budget is also small, we need more money. Right now the money that is set aside for education is just enough to pay teachers and the teachers' is also inadequate anyway.
"There is a need for money to assist the underprivileged students and their families who cannot afford the costs of education. We need to improve the working conditions of teachers so that they become dedicated to their jobs.
"The percentage of children who don't go to school is neither here nor there, education should be mandatory; there should not be even a percentage of children who don't go to school. It is illegal for a child not to go to school, if parents cannot afford they should use Beam, let the Government deal with the Beam headache not the children," said Dr Ndlovu.
It has been found that females and pupils in rural areas are more likely to drop out of school due to poverty, lack of finances, distances between school and home, poor nutrition and informal employment.
Girls of secondary age who drop out of school are vulnerable to early marriages, sexual exploitation and violence through trafficking and sex slavery. When they drop out of school their chances of escaping poverty become limited.
Girls are more disadvantaged as cost recovery measures in the education sector, religious and cultural practices that favour boys contribute to girls falling behind male pupils in acquiring educational levels needed to access leadership positions in society and higher levels of employment.
The Minister of Women Affairs, Gender and Community Development, Dr Olivia Muchena said her ministry was working with the Ministry of Education to stop rural school girls from dropping out of school.
"We have a gender sensitive programme in urban and rural schools that looks at that problem but due to lack of funding the project is not that effective. But I can tell you in short that we are working with the Ministry of Education to arrest the problem of rural school girls dropping out of school," said Dr Muchena.
In terms of the proportion of girls and boys in secondary schools Zimbabwe is the worst performing country out of all the 15 Sadc countries as there are only 35 percent girls in secondary education.
The 2012 Sadc Gender Protocol Barometer however, has a higher figure of almost parity as it found out that enrolment stood at 48 percent girls at secondary school. This shows that the gender gap as secondary school level is rapidly growing.
The enrolment of girls at tertiary level is slightly better than that of secondary school. It stands at 37 percent. This is a result of the various affirmative action initiatives that have seen an increase in women's enrolment especially at teachers' training colleges and vocational institutions.
At tertiary level Zimbabwe is ranked at number 14 out of 15 Sadc countries.
Source - SM
