Hungry pupils drop school

EDUCATION minister Lazarus Dokora yesterday expressed fears that the number of school dropouts as a result of hunger could increase in the next months as Treasury has not yet provided money for supplementary feeding to pupils.

Dokora made the revelations in Senate after Chief Zama Nthua Ngungumbane Mkwananzi from Mberengwa in Midlands province demanded to know what plans government had put in place to avert the crisis.

"I am aware that countrywide, and especially in those areas affected by a food deficit, that attendance at schools has become erratic and in some cases, children only attend lessons if they have had a meal," Dokora said.

"It will be ideal for schools to introduce simple things such as mahewu (nutritional traditional drink) because it is a stressful situation at the moment as it is examination time and children are affected by food insecurity. We will direct those issues to Treasury to see if there can be some saving to feed children," he said.

The World Food Programme says about 2,2 million people might require urgent food aid in the coming months.

Early this week, teachers' unions told NewsDay that the pass rate at most schools could be affected as pupils were dropping out of school to take up menial jobs such as panning and vending to supplement their families' dwindling food supplies.

Progressive Teachers' Union of Zimbabwe secretary-general Raymond Majongwe urged government to urgently re-engage the donor community to ease food shortages.

"Our members from areas such as Lupane, Tsholotsho, parts of Binga, Beitbridge, Mutawatawa (Maramba Pfungwe) and Plumtree have sent worrying reports that running schools has seriously been impacted by the food crisis," Majongwe said.

"The teachers have said it is impossible in those areas to get a full child complement in a class and in certain circumstances attendance had dwindled to a third as children opted to look for wild fruits," Majongwe said.

Majongwe said government should now give drought-prone areas priority when it comes to food aid because children were losing crucial time and lessons and the 2013 pass rates at Grade Seven, "O" and "A" Levels might be affected.

"No child must write exams on an empty stomach. It is an emergency situation. It all comes back to the issue that donors should have unfettered access to those communities. Our attitudes towards the donor community should change because in the past, our children used to be assisted by them. A malnourished baby will never be a better person in the future," he said.

Teachers' Union of Zimbabwe chief executive officer Manuel Nyawo said children in Mberengwa, Malipati and other areas were starving and government should quickly intervene.

"At Hatcliffe One Primary School (in Harare), children are given mahewu every day and such feeding schemes should be introduced throughout the country. Government must do so in liaison with donor agencies and the Department of Social Welfare," Nyawo said.