adminThupeyo Muleya
Beitbridge Bureau
Government needs to redouble efforts in addressing the plight of undocumented children in schools, some of whom are struggling to transit from primary to secondary level, Permanent Secretary for Primary and Secondary Education, Mrs Thumisang Thabela, has said.
She said the problem was more prevalent in border areas where irregular migration activities were rife.
In some instances, some parents who sire their kids out of the country were struggling to document their children because of their migration status, while others were just reluctant to do so, said Ms Thabela.
She made the remarks in an interview on the sidelines of the presentation of the Secretary’s Merit Award to Dulivhadzimu Primary School in Beitbridge recently.
“We do face a problem of undocumented children especially in borderline districts like Beitbridge,” said Ms Thabela.
“The challenge we have is bigger than education, some of these children were outside the country and came in, and some parents are unwilling to document them.
“In some instances, they want them to get the education and go back to South Africa.”
She said in cases where parents were unavailable the guardians were finding it hard to get the children documented because of restrictive legal requirements.
Ms Thabela said at times her ministry and that Home Affairs and Cultural Heritage often carry out outreach programs to document children and also educate the communities on the importance of getting the primary documents for their children.
“So, we really need an Inter-Ministerial approach, where we look at this and a lot of education and awareness is done to the communities.
“This will ensure that at least our learners know that they are Zimbabweans and that transition from primary to secondary education is important,” said Mrs Thabela.
The issue of undocumented children and the poor transition was rife in the Beitbridge district, especially during the second and third terms of Grades 6 and 7.
Parents of these children, said Mrs Thabela, were reportedly taking them to go and work at nearby farms in South Africa, especially during the oranges harvesting season.
“We cannot stop the children from going to South Africa, but let’s add value to them so that they migrate as competitive human resources and be able to compete on an equal footing with others.
“We need them to get proper jobs rather than settle for menial jobs,” she said.
Government is looking at the construction of more learning facilities countrywide to improve access to education and reduce the barriers to education.
President Mnangagwa recently said about 3 000 schools would be constructed to decongest classes and reduce the distances that learners walk to the nearest school.
Online Reporter