In a concerning trend, more girls are dropping out of secondary school compared to boys, with teen pregnancies largely to blame, the Zimbabwe National Statistics Agency (ZimStat) revealed recently.
During a workshop on the 2022 Population and Housing Census Provincial Profiles in Bulawayo, ZimStat highlighted Mashonaland, Central, and Midlands provinces as struggling with high rates of teen pregnancies. Tawanda Chingozha, a ZimStat representative, noted these provinces as the least performers in combating this issue.
While Mashonaland East, West, and Masvingo provinces show some progress, they still fall short of the desired outcomes. “These provinces are making strides, but more needs to be done to effectively tackle teen fertility,” Chingozha stated.
According to a report by Newsday, Aluwisio Mukavhi, ZimStat’s director of demography and social statistics, pointed out a worrying gender disparity in education. “At the primary level, boys are more likely to be out of school, but this trend reverses in secondary education, with significantly more girls dropping out,” Mukavhi explained.
Bulawayo, in particular, faces challenges with school attendance. Mukavhi highlighted it as the province with the lowest net attendance ratio at the secondary level.
Rumbidza Tizora, a representative from UNICEF, emphasized the importance of data in addressing these challenges. “Through our partnership with ZimStat, we aim to focus our interventions on the most deprived areas, as part of our commitment to the National Development Strategy and Vision 2030,” Tizora said.
A recent survey by child rights group Zvandiri showed a staggering 95% of teen pregnancies are unintended, primarily due to poverty and a lack of access to contraceptives. Between September 2021 and August 2022, over 20,000 girls dropped out of school after becoming pregnant.
This rising trend of school dropouts and teen pregnancies underscores the urgent need for targeted interventions in Zimbabwe’s education and health sectors.
