ABOUT 50 000 learners dropped out of school last year, with poverty and pregnancy being cited as the major causes.
This is a frightening statistic that should jolt a caring government into action.
Angeline Gata, Primary and Secondary Education deputy minister, told Parliament last week that 15 809 learners dropped out of primary school while 33 746 learners dropped out of secondary school.
What will become of these learners? No one knows. What is evident is that they are statistics of the government’s failure to provide social services.
“Depending on the reasons, some of the reasons could be girls getting pregnant and school fees, which are being catered for by the Basic Education Assistance Module (Beam),” Gata said, adding that her ministry had partnered Unicef on a programme to establish the reasons behind the dropouts and come up with necessary interventions.
This sounds good. The challenge emanates from a government that does not want to invest in its people, relying more on co-operating partners to foot the bill.
United States President Donald Trump's aid pause will expose the government that has relied more on donor aid, citing inadequate tax revenue to meet the operating costs, although resources are available to buy cars for senior government officials. Their demand for new cars is inelastic.
The government has failed to make Beam work so that it caters to the underprivileged. Statistics show that three out of 10 learners are under the Beam programme. However, Treasury has been struggling to pay the Beam bill, with schools threatening to expel the affected learners.
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The high dropout rate is a boon for social vices such as drug and substance abuse and early pregnancies for girls.
The country is battling drug and substance abuse, with the government rolling out a national campaign against the vice. Information minister Jenfan Muswere told journalists during post-Cabinet briefing last week that national drug and substance abuse campaigns are ongoing and that the completed 79 awareness sessions reached out to over 165 000 youths.
Work is cut out for the government to curb school dropouts. A high school dropout plus an under-performing economy is a recipe for disaster.
The government must provide education to its citizens as mandated by the Constitution. Section 75 of the Constitution states that every citizen or permanent resident of Zimbabwe has a right to basic State-funded education, including adult basic education.
The section decrees that every citizen or permanent resident of Zimbabwe has a right to further education, which the State, through reasonable legislative and other measures, must make progressively available and accessible.
President Emmerson Mnangagwa has been pushing the mantra “leaving no one and no place behind”.
About 50 000 learners have been left behind, another statistic of the government’s inability to take care of its citizens.
Government is playing Russian Roulette with Zimbabwe’s future.
