Government should be applauded for empowering girl child

As the nation joins other countries in celebrating the Day of the African child in memory of the 1976 Soweto uprising, it is important to reflect on the challenges afflicting the girl child today.

Despite efforts made to bring about gender equality and education for all, the problem of young girls dropping out of school continues to haunt the country.

The fact that many female students never complete high school has a deep and wide-ranging impact on the country's long-term economic outlook.

The dropping from schooling by the girls promotes early marriages, which consequently leads to high infant, child and maternal mortality rates mainly because teenage mothers are not biologically and economically capable.

The  African proverb that says, "If you educate a man you educate an individual but if you educate a woman, you educate a nation" has never rung more true than now. It is commendable that Government has recognized that educating the girl child is an effective strategy in fighting poverty and empowering women in the long term.

Studies conducted have revealed that the main reason for school dropouts is poverty. Government is working diligently to reduce the rate of drop-outs through such mechanisms as the Basic Education Assistance Module ( BEAM) which is a policy designed to provide quality education to children by specifically supporting orphans and vulnerable children.

One scholar once noted, "Confidence and empowerment are cousins in my opinion. Empowerment comes from within and typically it's stemmed and fostered by self-assurance."

Accordingly, when one empowers a girl child, she will automatically gain confidence. Most families invest in male children, neglecting the girl child. Sadly, some parents who are poor and illiterate think that adolescent girls are a burden to the family and encourage them into early marriage or menial employment.

It is disheartening to note that contrary to efforts being made Government to redress this issue, some cults continue to abuse and violate the welfare and rights of young girls, forcing them into marriage at a tender age. Only recently, members of a Budiriro based apostolic cult led by one Madzibaba Ishmael were in the headlines for gross abuse of women's rights.

 It is alleged that members of the cult forced young virgin girls into marriage, used them as compensation, as well as banning them from seeking medical attention and schooling.

Apart from being morally repugnant and downright illegal, such practices go against Government's thrust of promoting gender equality. Empowering girls is not only the right thing to do but it makes sense. The Zimbabwe Education Act states that ‘all children have the right to education and equal access to same opportunities.'

While strides have been made to address the issue of empowering the girl child, more still needs to be done till equality is achieved.

Speaking at the launch of the Beijing +20 consultative processes in Harare recently, Women's Affairs, Gender and Community Development Minister, Oppah Muchinguri said, "There has been significant progress made in net primary school enrolments and towards eliminating gender disparity in primary education enrolment. We need to investigate why our young girls are continuously dropping out of school at secondary level. We are concerned that the heavy focus on numbers has resulted in less focus on completion of secondary level, educational quality and learning outcomes."  

It is the responsibility of both the government and private sector to support secondary education for girls through scholarships. The main aim of this intervention would be to increase the transition rate from primary to secondary education.

In addition, the puberty stage of development, if not properly managed, can have severe negative effect on girls' performance in education. For instance girls from most disadvantaged households are absent for an average of three to five days a month during their menstrual period. Provision of basic requirements such as sanitary ware should therefore be made a priority.

It is the duty of the Government, the private sector and the community to promote the empowerment of the girl child through curbing incidences of school dropouts. Adolescent girls should also be conscientised on their rights to education and health.