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Sukulwenkosi Dube-Matutu, Gwanda Correspondent
EIGHTEEN percent of children of school-going age in rural Matabeleland South Province are not in school mainly because of their parents and guardians’ inability to pay school fees.
Presenting a Zimbabwe Vulnerability Assessment Committee (ZimVac) 2019 Rural Livelihoods Assessment report Matabeleland South Fact Sheet during a meeting in Gwanda on Thursday, Food and Nutrition Council multisectoral coordination unit manager, Ms Miriam Banda said Mangwe District had the highest number of children aged between four and 17-years-old who were not attending school.
She said other reasons why children were not attending school included long distances to schools, pregnancy or marriage, illnesses, lack of interest in school among others.
“The ZimVac survey which was conducted revealed that 18 percent of children aged between four and 17-years-old in rural areas in Matabeleland South were not in school. Mangwe District has the highest figure of children not in school as 24 percent of children aged between four and 17-years-old were not attending school.
‘‘The main reason why children were not attending school was the inability to pay school fees,” she said. Ms Banda said the nutrition status of children in the province was concerning as the provincial stunting prevalence was 26.3 percent against the World Health Organisation (WHO) global threshold of 20 percent.
She said the provincial exclusive breastfeeding rate dropped from 71 percent in 2018 to 50 percent in 2019.
Speaking on the food situation Ms Banda said 314 022 people will not be able to meet their cereal requirements by January next year which is the peak hunger period.
She said there was a decrease in the proportion of households that planted all crops during the 2018/2019 season compared to 2017/2018 season.Ms Banda said the maize which was planted during the previous season dropped by about 63 percent while small grain production dropped by about 18 percent.
She said 56 percent of the households in the province reported that they did not own cattle while 54,8 percent of households in the province did not own goats. Speaking on water and sanitation, Ms Banda said 37 percent of the population in the province was practising open defecation while only 18 percent of households had access to surface water. Ms Banda said the committee recommended to the Government to enforce the education policy to ensure that no child is sent away from school for non-payment of school fees as it was alarming that 18 percent of children in the province were not going to school.
“There is need for a robust school feeding programme and household food assistance interventions which should reflect family size and the nutrition specific needs of the food insecure. The improvement of infrastructure for water harvesting and preservation through construction of weir dams, rehabilitation of irrigation infrastructure and infield conservation works is recommended to improve crop husbandry in the province. – @DubeMatutu
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