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At about 94 percent, according to the 2022 national population census, our country’s adult literacy rate is Africa’s highest.

That is an enviable statistic as it highlights the great work that the Government, its partners and the general public have been doing over the years so that most of our people can read and write.

We have achieved this through building as many schools as possible, building them as near as possible to the people, creating an economic environment, which enables parents and guardians to pay fees, paying school fees for the needy and creating that public enthusiasm for education.

However, as we report elsewhere today, there remain impediments to access to education for some. If unchecked, the impediments can, in the end, draw the nation back in terms of its literacy rate and other education indicators.

The Zimbabwe Livelihoods Assessment Committee (ZimLAC) Rural Livelihoods Assessment (RLA), says 25 percent of children of school-going age in Matabeleland North and Matabeleland South are not attending school.

Child marriages, poverty, children considered too young, pregnancy and early marriages, illness and the need to care for other household members, a general lack of interest in education and long distances to school are some of the reasons keeping them at home.

The Matabeleland region average is the highest of the country’s eight rural provinces and higher than the national average of 22 percent.

“Nationally, 22,3 percent of school-going age children were not in school at the time of the survey. Financial challenges (10,3 percent) were reported to be the main reason why children were out of school,” reads the report.

The statistics make for some concerning reading indeed.

Without an education, a child’s prospects in later life are impeded right from the outset. Such a kid’s chances of securing a decent formal job are curtailed. If they secure a job, it will often be a blue collar one that doesn’t pay.

Without a job, they tend to marry into poverty too early, find solace in drugs and alcohol and age into poverty. Their children will perpetuate that indigent existence.

We don’t want that to happen to our people.

That the national literacy rate is among Africa’s highest is, as mentioned earlier, an indication of the great investment that the Government, its partners and the people have made in ensuring greater access to education since 1980.

Also, the Matabeleland North and Matabeleland South data while high, shows that a vast majority – 75 percent – of kids in the provinces are in school, but the ZimLAC data tells us that we must not relax.

We are encouraged, however, that the economy is improving, the Second Republic is investing devolution funds in building more schools, the law now allows pregnant kids to remain in school and the Basic Education Assistance Module is being strengthened.

These and more will help reverse the worrying trend that the ZimLAC report notes in relation to rural Matabeleland.