Sunday News
9th August 2009
By Lulu Brenda Harris
The number of boys enrolling for education after primary school is declining in Matabeleland South as most of them skip the border to neighbouring countries while others are going into gold panning, an official has said.
The Provincial Education Director (PED), Mrs Tumisang Thabela, told Sunday News at a World Vision medical and textbook handover ceremony at Filabusi Country Club in Insiza last week, that secondary schools in the province were recording less male pupils compared to those who would have completed primary school the previous year.
Mrs Thabela said she was concerned about the decline in the number of Form One boys in secondary schools. She said children needed to be looked after as they were key to the country’s recovery.
Mrs Thabela said in Bulilima, while there were 1 770 boys in Grade Seven classes in 2008, only 1 259 proceeded to Form One this year.
At the same time, in Beitbridge, there were 1 414 Grade Sevens, 1 259 students proceeded to Form One.In Insiza, there were 2 126 Grade Sevens in 2008 and only 1 606 proceeded to Form One this year.
She said the trend has been going on mostly in areas near border towns where boys move to the neighbouring countries.
However Mrs Thabela said the dropout was not as pronounced for girls compared to boys. She said there was need to address the issue of gender equality in schools as a recent survey showed that more boys were dropping out of school before they had the chance to attend high school.
“The Government came up with eight millennium development goals and they chose to specialise on three, three years ago. These were food security, alleviation of HIV/AIDS and gender equity. “What is of concern is that the boy child appears to be neglected. We have been going around the schools in Matabeleland South and we realised that in three areas of Beitbridge, Matobo and Bulilima and Mangwe there is reduced number of Form One boys enrolled at the schools,†she said.
Mrs Thabela said that she has been told that boys found the easy way across the border and others venture into gold panning.
Mrs Thabela emphasised that there was need for these issues to be addressed and education is one of them. “The government realises the future is vested in the children and there is a great need to invest in their education,†she said.
Meanwhile, the Matabeleland North PED, Mrs Buithelelo Mguni, said although she had no statistics on the trend in her province there were more girls who registered for the Ordinary Level examinations.
“In Chemistry there are 31 girls compared to two boys and there are more who registered for English, Mathematics and Ndebele, while there were more boys in Technical Graphics, Metal Work and Woodwork,†she said.
The Minister for Education, Sports, Arts and Culture, Senator David Coltart, said the drop in enrolment, as students move from primary school to secondary school was worrying. He said there was a huge gap between children at primary school and those enrolling at secondary school as parents were struggling to raise school fees.
“This applies to both boys and girls. In the past it used to be girls. It’s a very worrying development and that is why we have to make education affordable. For us another priority is to identify talented children so that they do not fall out of the system,†he said.