“We must enforce the right to education that would ensure all children remain in school. The whole essence must therefore be a guarantee to right to education or state funded basic education in order to keep children in schools.”

This was said by Takavafira Zhou, Progressive Teachers’ Union of Zimbabwe (PTUZ) President. More children continue to drop out of school in Zimbabwe because of early child marriages. The numbers having drastically increased due to Covid 19 induced lockdowns which saw students being forced off schools for months on end.

“The long period of idleness due to closure of schools emanating from Covid 19 lockdown saw more than 30 000 girls falling pregnant as there was no academic engagement exercise to give girls hope for better things to come,” said Zhou.  

Zhou pointed out that as PTUZ they have noted a high dropout rate of both girls and boys because of poverty. He said that the education system offers nothing for future life, many girls have fallen prey to artisanal miners who easily access cash. According to reports from various African countries, girls with no education are three times more likely to marry by 18 as compared to those with secondary or tertiary education. In Africa, the top 20 countries with the highest prevalence of child marriage include Chad at 67%, CAR at 68% and South Sudan at 52%. UNESCO’s Institute for Statistics, reports that there are 32 million out-of-school children of primary age in Africa and 28 million out-of-school adolescents – the highest rates globally.

The African Union (AU) recently held a campaign to end child marriages in South Africa. An agreement was made to advocate for a multi-sectoral plan that better links child marriage to all sectors, in particular education. Child marriage and early child pregnancies are the reasons why most girls drop out of secondary school. Poverty is one of the leading causes of child marriages with some parents accepting the bride price or lobola for their underage children. Most parents and guardians prioritise the short-term economic gain of marrying off a girl child. With education fast becoming inaccessible to many especially in rural areas because of poverty it is imperative that efforts are made by government and other stakeholders to make education affordable and accessible for all.

“When girls remain in school, they will be pre-occupied with their studies, education needs to be free for all. Even tertiary education must remain accessible and affordable to girls in order to ward-off girl children from leaning towards marriage. At any rate to educate a girl is to educate a community and nation, as in essence educated girls would become better mothers who can give better advice to their kids and even over sexual rights education,” said Zhou.

Teachers spoken to by Louder Magazine showed concern at the alarming rate that girls are dropping out of schools. Wadzanai Rukanda, a Headmaster at Torwood Primary School said that child marriages are directly linked to access to education. She pointed out that most of the cases are in countries or communities where the girl child is not encouraged to pursue her education to the highest level. As a result, government interventions that would see the girl child in school for longer are important. “Government should prioritise paying school fees for disadvantaged learners and give stiffer penalties to perpetrators of child marriages. There is also need to include topics on child marriages in the syllabus from grade 3 up to form 6. There is need to have clubs in schools that teach children about the dangers of early child marriages. Most have a low self-esteem so they are easily pressured by peers, hence the need to have anti child marriage campaigns in schools,” she said.

Although the Zimbabwean law allows girls who fall pregnant to stay in school, not many take advantage of this law. Stigma and discrimination which the girls have to deal with makes it almost impossible for them to do so. Returning to school for those who have children can be difficult or even impossible.