Girls dropping out of school

By Melody Gwenyambira

Zimbabwe has managed to achieve gender parity at primary school.

The same however cannot be said of the secondary and tertiary levels.

“Girls tend to drop out of school during the key years of Form 3 and Four. At Tertiary level only 43 percent of females are enrolled in University,”The United Nations Women Representative to Zimbabwe Kemal Mustafa has said.

Mustafa noted this on the backdrop of the Commemoration of the International Day of the Girl Child.

“Factors behind these disparities include poverty, unplanned teenage pregnancies, early marriage, violence perpetrated in the school and at home and absence of role models to motivate especially rural girls.’

Making incremental changes in how education is accessed, designed and delivered can strengthen girl’s participation, learning and empowerment.

This means solutions as simple as finding creative transportation for girls to get to school whether by bus, bicycle or even canoe.

“Education is everybody;s business, but business as usual is not enough to overcome the barriers to girls’ education. Efforts must be scaled up on all fronts to increase access to education and to enhance the transition from primary to secondary education,” Mustafa added.

Girls who also spoke out revealed that inadequate sanitation facilitates for girls, the burden of gender roles at home, harmful religious and traditional practices, negative attitude towards girl’s education and their vulnerability to HIV contribute to girls dropping out of school. 

“We need to create conditions where girls and young women are safe, healthy, educated and fully empowered to realize their potential to transform families, their communities, their economies and their societies,” added Mustafa.