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Michael Magoronga, Midlands Correspondent
NEARLY 300 pupils in Kwekwe District dropped out of school during the Covid-19-induced lockdown after falling pregnant, getting married, venturing into the mining industry or due to financial challenges among other reasons.

Schools were only opened in September after having been closed in March owing to the threat posed by Covid-19.

The shocking statistics came out during a Kwekwe District post-symposium on child marriages.

Kwekwe District Remedial Tutor in the Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education, Mr Addmore Shava said 254 secondary school and 42 primary school pupils dropped out of school.

Most of the pupils were from the rural parts of the district.

Underaged girls, who got married constitute the largest chunk with a total of 124, 117 from secondary schools and seven, including a 12-year-old were from primary  schools.

29 girls were impregnated while 59 boys and one girl joined the artisanal mining sector.

A total of 78 students dropped out of school owing to financial challenges while five crossed the border to neighboring South Africa to look for jobs.

Mr Shava said the ministry together with other stakeholders, has since embarked on awareness campaigns encouraging parents to take children back to school.

“We are still compiling these statistics but so far this is what we have as shocking as it is. We have started awareness campaigns whereby we are saying no child should be left behind in terms of education. So far, we have held a number of roadshows where we were targeting mainly the rural areas which are mostly affected and we have since started yielding results,” said Mr Shava.

He said the district has also embarked on learner tracking and more than 50 learners have since returned to school owing to the programme.

Assistant Inspector Tichatonga Chabaya from the Police’s District Victim Friendly Unit said cases of drug abuse were rampant within schools.

He urged every member of society to be active in trying to curb the scourge.

“I urge every member of society to play their roles in ending child marriages and drug abuse,” he said.
Asst Insp Chabaya said cases of omalayitsha sexually abusing girls after splashing money on them were on the increase.

“There is a new wave in the district where those who operate cross-border kombis, lie to girls that they will get them jobs in South Africa and they end up impregnating them as well. There are also school leavers who pounce on girls.

They wait for them at school gates and upon knocking off they do all sorts of things abusing those girls. We are in the know and we are going to put an end to that,” said Asst Insp Chabaya.

Junior Midlands Provincial Affairs Minister who is also Kwekwe Central Junior legislator, Precious Hove said children must be included in policymaking and decision-making processes.

“Give us the chance to participate in some of the programmes about us. Nothing for us without us is against us so give us the chance to participate in decision making,” she said.

She identified religion, poverty and child headed families as the main causes of child marriages.

“We have churches where elderly men marry young girls purporting to have dreamt about the marriage. Why is it they are not shown women of their age in those dreams?” she asked.

PLAN International area manager for Midlands, Ms Lainah Matsikiti said her organisation has formulated a 5-year plan aimed at reducing unplanned youth pregnancies and child marriages.

“We have a number of projects that we are carrying in partnership with stakeholders in trying to reduce cases of child marriages and address issues of sexual and health reproduction health issues among the girl and boy child.

These border on projects to do with gender transformative child protection, youth economic empowerment, inclusive quality education, second chance education among others,” said Ms Matsikiti.