BY CHRISTINE MWAABA –
EDUCATING girls to grow into educated women tends to break the vicious cycle of poverty.
Educating a girl-child also means when she is a woman, she is empowered and more likely to participate in developmental issues as well as in political and economic decision-making.
All children have a right to quality education, and realising this right particularly for girls, goes a long way.
However, repeating grades and drop-out rates for girls in schools remains unacceptably high throughout primary and secondary education due to various reasons.
At household and community level, poverty is the main factor undermining the right of girls to attain education.
School fees and additional costs such as transport, clothing and books, reinforce the gender gap.
When poor families cannot afford to educate all their children, it is often their daughters who have to stay home until they get married.
Further, household chores often affect opportunities for girls to learn and thrive, taking away valuable time that could be spend on studies to attain education.
For example, girls are often in charge of drawing water before they go to school.
Each trip may take more than an hour, resulting in them being tired and having a likelihood of absconding classes.
All too often, especially in rural areas, girls are forced to skip classes or drop out of school altogether because there are no separate toilets for them which guarantees privacy, a problem which becomes particularly pertinent once girls reach puberty.
Moreover, harassment at the hands of boys, teachers and other adults, and insecurity, may deter girls from attending school.
• Many girls are facing sexual and physical abuse from teachers and peers in school and at home.
Many girls are facing sexual and physical abuse from teachers and peers in school and at home.
Early marriages and early pregnancies have also led to a number of girls dropping out of school.
But then, the big question that needs to be answered is, will the millennium development goals of 50/50 participation of women in decision making position be achieved if a number of girls are dropping out of school leaving them vulnerable to acquiring basic education?
Ministry of Education Spokesperson Hilary Chipango explains that having a number of girls drop out in school can greatly disadvantage them when it comes to progressing in life.
The side effects are quite high seeing that they mostly disadvantage girls from contributing to the development of the nation.
He says the Ministry of Education has employed several measures to make sure that a number of the girls dropping out of school are reduced.
Some of the measures the ministry has undertaken have been implemented country wide, both in rural and urban areas.
In the past once a girl drops out of school for falling pregnant, it would mark the end of her enrollment in any school. This led to early marriages.
It was for this reason that the re-entry policy for the girls who fall pregnant, while in school was introduced in all the schools to accord girls an opportunity to complete their education despite the circumstances they find themselves in.
A number of technical schools specifically for the girls have been established. This is aimed at encouraging more girls to take keen interest in subjects like mathematics and science.
Kapiri Mposhi and Ndola girl’s Technical high schools are among institutions that have been established to encourage girls to take up technical subjects.
‘‘Boys are not having it very easy, girls have improved immensely, hence a number of technical schools have been built and we are still looking forward to building more so that we can achieve our MDG’S of more girls being enrolled in school,’’ he said.
Only a handful of children enrolled in primary schools complete their secondary education due to various reasons like early pregnancies, cultural, or financial constraints.
Mr Chipango says regardless of these reasons, girls should not shy away from having equal access to a quality education.
‘‘No girl child must be left behind.
The purpose is to increase accountability of women to participate in the key decision making positions.
But then, this can only be achieved by improving knowledge in the girl child,’’ he said.
To insure that a number of girls in rural areas acquire basic education, the ministry of Education has deployed female teachers to act as role models to the girls, motivating them to believe that they can also do it.
The millennium development goals of ensuring that there is equal participation of women will only be accomplished if girls are able to complete their primary and secondary education.
Kamai Chilumba, a teacher at Libala Secondary School says women who drop out of school are less likely to be active participants in providing labour and are more likely to be unemployed than their more educated counterparts.
The current unemployment rate for girls dropping out of primary and high school is higher than that of girls who complete their education.
And so the possibility of a lifetime earnings for this group is likely to be less than those for high school graduates.
‘‘Women who have gone to school usually manage and increase the household incomes,’’ Mrs Chilumba said.
She said problems created at individual level due to the lack of high school education affects society as a whole.
The said the problem needs to be dealt with at the very lowest level from primary to tertiary in order for each individual to be productive.
Mercy Mbewe is a 41-year-old woman of Lusaka who dropped out of school when she was in Grade Seven at Chingwere Basic School in Matero.
She explains that her dream of becoming a nurse was shattered when she dropped out of school because of financial constraints after her parents divorced.
Life could not be any easier seeing that her mother could not raise enough money to pay for her school fees.
She was left with no option but to leave school and look for other alternatives.
At a very tender age she started a small business of selling groundnuts which allowed her to support her family in a little way.
Mercy says although she is a business woman she would like to acquire some education because there is progression and good life in education.
Her advice to the girls is that they should concentrate especially if they have someone to sponsor them. She said education can take them a long way.
‘‘Young girls should take up the opportunity of learning whilst they have less responsibility and when they are educated they will contribute greatly to the society,’’ she said.
The rarely debated issue of school girl dropouts in Zambia’s education system requires immediate action.
Education is a way for which a person can gain self-sufficiency and acquire the knowledge and skills necessary to ensure a successful transition into adulthood.
Girls who fail to acquire sufficient academic skills may find themselves severely restrained in an increasingly competitive job market.
In order to ensure that each girl has access to the best education possible, there is need to create a school environment that is conducive to learning and that takes into account the diversity of students that come together within the school walls.
Environmental and socio structural factors that contribute to a number of young girls dropping out of school must be taken into consideration.
Positive mentoring and tutoring can contribute towards academic retention thereby leading to a more promising future for all girls.
This is why parents, teachers, and the community must be involved.
The phenomenon of girls dropping out of school is so widespread and so serious that it should be a priority for all those involved in education, politics as well as decision makers, parents, teachers and students.
The Government and society at large will benefit by arresting this scourge in that, the educated girls will add to the growing economy of the country.
