COVID-19 AND GIRL CHILD EDUCATION: PARENTAL PERSPECTIVES.

Abstract

This paper argues that COVID-19 lockdowns negatively affected the
education of many young girls in rural Zimbabwe, particularly those who
ran into teenage marriages; because they had no other alternative
productive activities to occupy them during school closures. Had there
been other educational activities like readily available online lessons,
community clubs, access to internet and many more activities which their
urban counterparts are enjoying, less numbers of child marriages could
have been recorded. The paper interviewed some parents from rural
areas (Gokwe and Chirumanzu), on the state of affairs and discovered
that 7 in every 10 families interviewed had their teenage girl married or
had unwanted pregnancies before marriage. The paper recommends
that mitigation measures should be taken so that young girls are kept in
school as long as possible despite quagmires like the Corona Virus
Disease (COVID-19). Without sustainable programs for girls and boys in
rural and urban areas, the gains yet to be achieved by all legislation
promoting gender equality in education, the education Amendment Act
2020 and other intervention strategies from Non-Governmental
Organisations like Campaign for Female Education (CAMFED) which are
paying school fees for girls in more than 29 districts of rural Zimbabwe
will go to waste. Efforts should therefore be made through a multi
stakeholder approach to keep girls in school against any odds.