Most schools in Chipinge have registered a sharp drop in the number of girls who returned to schools for the first term of 2021, a snap survey conducted by Platform for Youth and Community Development has revealed.
By Cheriel Dzobo
The COVID-19 induced lockdown introduced by government to contain the spread of the deadly pandemic saw schools shutting down for the greater part of 2020 before re-opening in November.
Schools closed again in December and were set to re-open in early January but a second wave of the pandemic forced another lockdown which kept pupils home again until late March.
With pupils staying home and teachers disgruntled over poor salaries, learning literally halted leaving learners idle without any school work to do.
This resulted in some of the girls getting married before the age of 18 while some had to sacrifice school to look for work in urban areas with the brave ones joining the great trek down to South Africa.
One of the most affected areas is Shekwa village which is in Ward 17, Chipinge Rural District Council.
School Development Committee Chairperson of Shekwa Secondary school, Trust Gezi told 263Chat that when schools opened in 2021, a number of girls did not report back.
‘An observation I noted is that most girls in Shekwa have already dropped out of school because of early marriage, pregnancy and some went to towns to work as maids. COVID 19 has made everything stagnant leading to children misbehaving which has led to some getting pregnant thus leading them into early marriages,” said Gezi.
In another interview with Mrs Magaa, Village Health Worker and Sister to Sister club mentor, echoed the same sentiments with Gezi and revealed that most of the girls who were in her club got married during the lockdown.
“Tinorwadziwa vana vadoko vari kuroorana veisiya chikora, Corona iyi yakatishaishira vana atichavakoni (Its sad that young girls are dropping out of school to get married, COVID-19 has not been good to us)”, she lamented.
Mrs Mapako one of the Psycho-Social Support teachers at Watershed Secondary school urged communities to join hands with Child Protection Committees to make up a follow-up on such issues of early marriages so that those girls can come back to school.
Presenting a report on the level of public service delivery related to gender-based violence during the pandemic in parliament early this year, Women Affairs Minister Sithembiso Nyoni said social vices such as child marriages were on increase.
“A total of 4,959 got impregnated in such a short period and this means that nearly 5,000 of our girls risk losing their educational opportunity if they do not pursue re-admission,” said Nyoni.
She added that 1,774 were married before their 18th birthday.
“They have lost opportunities and have also become vulnerable to other forms of violence, assault, which include economic and emotional abuse,” Nyoni added.
