Zimbabwe is facing a disturbing trend of school dropouts, with Mashonaland East province leading the statistics. According to the Ministry of Education, 3,433 girls dropped out of school last year due to early marriages and pregnancies. What’s even more alarming is that 109 of these girls were primary school students, with some as young as 13 years old.
The Deputy Minister of Education, Angeline Gata, revealed that the province had a total of 499 girls whose studies were disrupted. In a bid to combat this issue, the Ministry is working with NGOs to encourage people to report cases of child marriages and violations. Despite a law prohibiting physical relationships with minors under 18, cases of early pregnancies continue to rise.
However, there is a glimmer of hope. The education system allows pregnant girls to return to school, and last year, 667 girls were readmitted. Gata stated that 467 married girls and 710 pregnant girls returned to school.
But concerns remain. MP Mutsa Murombedzi questioned whether any of the reported pregnancies were linked to rape and called for arrests to be made. He urged the Minister of Home Affairs to address these questions and outline the government’s approach to tackling early pregnancies and child marriages.
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