People in resettlement areas have bemoaned the rise in cases of child marriages and school dropouts and have blamed it on government policies that were not in line with cultural norms.

At a community engagement meeting held in Ward 30 Zibagwe Rural, villagers expressed complaints about new policies and children’s rights movements that criminalise corporal punishment.Ward 30 Sub-Chief John Kapfumvute said that

“as long as we don’t change some of these polices we will continue to face problems with our kids. Children no longer listen to teachers or parents because they know if you try to punish them they will say you are abusing them.

Our culture, where we practised communal parenting has been eroded. When you see your neighbours’ kid misbehaving you cannot even correct them like the old days because they will tell you are not their parent. These policies are eroding the little trace of “Ubuntu” we had left as a people,” he said.

He went on to say that when he was at school, teachers were respected by everyone because they had the authority to discipline children. Nowadays, parents and teachers alike are failing to control and influence children because of lack of discipline. During the meeting parents and teachers alike expressed displeasure and pain over how poverty and peer pressure seem to be pushing children to making rush decisions which negatively affect their future.  “Children nowadays are engaging in early sexual activities. Others are using drugs which makes them make irrational decisions. They are getting some of these crazy ideas from the internet,” said Tapiwa Moyo.

Zimbabwe’s amended Education Act prohibits amongst other things, corporal punishment and the exclusion of pregnant girls from school. The re-entry policy ended expulsion of pregnant girls from school as they are now only allowed to return after a three-month leave. Since this ruling was made there have debates as to the effectiveness of the ruling. The law is not in tandem with cultural or even biblical beliefs where it is believed that if you spare the rod you spoil the child. As a result parents are blaming the unruly behaviour from the younger generation on such laws.

Ward 30 Zibagwe rural Councillor Idirashe Dongo said that it was quite disturbing that during the initial lockdown period over 600 children did not go back to school in Kwekwe District. “Over 600 children didn’t go back to school after that initial lockdown. It’s as good as an entire school decide not to go back and learn. We discovered that most of the children were married off whilst others were now doing artisanal mining to support their families,” she said.

Silobela Member of Parliament, Honourable Mpofu Mtokozisi Manoki has said that the rise of child marriages and child pregnancies in his constituency were a combination of different factors. These include lack of Sexual Reproductive Health (SRH) education, which includes use of condoms. In as much as child marriages have always been there and driven by various reasons which include cultural beliefs, poverty, peer pressure, the cases increased during COVID 19 induced lockdown as most children lost hope for their future. The school which had been playing a pivotal role in educating the child on SRH has been closed and some parents feared to take up that role.

Manoki, stated that there was a high rate of recorded and reported cases of GBV (Gender Based Violence) in homes, since the parents were now spending more time together. Lack of jobs and extracurricular activities led to households experiencing hunger, less entertainment causing violence which is now affecting the youth and children and not just the women. High school students were affected and some gave up and exposed themselves to drug abuse and early child marriages. Students could not access online lessons since not everyone can afford to buy data bundles let alone to have a smartphone in the household. Silobela being a mining area, many young people are being exposed to artisanal mining – turned them to thinking they are now adults and they also marry young.

“These children need projects that could help change their situation, gardening projects, poultry can be done. To those who dropped out due to pregnancies, most of them are very young, it would go a long way if they could be assisted in going back to school. Most of these children have lost hope, that hope needs to be reignited again,” he said.