Zimpapers Logo

Walter Mswazie Masvingo Correspondent
More than 1,000 pupils have dropped out of school in Chingwizi since the beginning of the year mainly due to hunger and long distances to and from school, a senior government official has confirmed.

Masvingo provincial education director Zadius Chitiga said three schools, two primary and one secondary, have been hard hit by the dropouts as pupils fail to withstand hunger pangs coupled with long distances they have to walk to arrive at school.

One of the schools, Nyuni primary is about 20km away while Chingwizi primary and secondary are 15km from the new settlement. Zunga primary is about 15km away, making it difficult for children to walk hungry.

He appealed to the government to give priority to the worst affected communities when they distribute food, noting that the shortage of food was affecting the learning of children.

About 3,000 families from the Tokwe Mukorsi Dam flood basin were repatriated to Chingwizi area as raging floods took their toll in February, 2014.

“Initially we had about 4,300 pupils for both secondary and primary schools in Chingwizi but when we carried out an audit, the figures had dropped to about 3,000 pupils. There could be many factors behind the decrease in pupil population, one being the distance and to a greater extent, hunger,” said Chitiga.

He said the government would go on the ground to assess the situation so that they could figure out the main reason behind the dropouts.

Chitiga said teachers were reporting high rates of absenteeism with other pupils reporting late for classes.

“While figures have a telling story, a team of inspectors will soon be on the ground to get a true picture of what exactly is happening.

“We understand Chingwizi families are where they are because of a natural disaster and it’s apparent that there tend to be challenges.

“Families depend on food handouts and chances are high that their children may leave for school without having eaten anything,” he said

The country has a food deficit of 700,000 tonnes of grain which is however being addressed by the government.

The distribution of relief food started last week in all the country’s 10 provinces following the importation of grain by government and the private sector from Zambia.