Education in Crisis, Zimbabwe’s Children Pay the Price of Economic Instability

By Shingirai Vambe

Harare, Zimbabwe – A devastating reality has gripped Zimbabwe, where school-going children are sacrificing their education and childhood to help their families survive.

The streets of Harare are now full of children under the age of 10, selling and begging for help at every intersection in the central business district some being send by their parents.

The Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Public Service Labour and Social Welfare of the 9^th Parliament asked the Permanent Secretary, Simon Masanga, on plans in place to remove people, both the young and the old, begging in the street, including those with disabilities.

Masanga responded and said majority of them, regardless of being given shelter, they run back into the street and start begging again. He also said there wasn’t any plan in place to deal with children of school going age.

He further sighted poverty, HIV/AIDS and abuse are the driving factors of having countless children in the streets and pavements of the country’s business districts

According to UNICEF, over 3.5 million Zimbabwean children live in poverty, with 1.5 million requiring immediate assistance. The economic crisis has ravaged households, leaving parents unable to provide basic necessities.

Zimbabwe’s education system, once revered, now faces unprecedented challenges. Teachers struggle to cope with overcrowded classrooms, outdated materials, and meager salaries.

The consequences are dire, stunted cognitive development, increased dropout rates, child labor, and exploitation. Long-term economic implications also loom, threatening the country’s future.

“Children are our future, but they’re being robbed of their childhood,” said a government official. “We need urgent support to address the socio-economic factors hindering their education.”

Regardless of this crisis, schools continue to send away children for non-payment of school fees.

2022-2024 The Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education has issued reports showing and sharp increase in school drop-outs, many of them being as a result of poverty and teen-pregnancies’ mostly in rural areas and resettlements