31 Aug 2023

The Moshupa District Council leaders say they are concerned by the rise in numbers of school dropouts and child abuse cases in the district.

Last term, fourteen boys and seven girls dropped out of school due to various reasons which included desertion and teenage pregnancy. The Council Chairman, Mr Sonny Phiri, said in his keynote address at the meeting of the council this week.

“Drop out remains a pain not only to this council, but also to the Ministry of Education and Skills Development and society at large,” he said.

Mr Phiri said schools continued to embark on retention strategies to curb school dropout. Dysfunctional homes and drug abuse were among the major causes of dropouts.

He said the council was in continual engagement with relevant stakeholders in an aim to promote child friendly schools and ensure that some of the outreach programmes geared to reducing drop out were adopted.

“Currently, schools encourage these children to return to school and be re-admitted in order to complete their basic education programme,” he said.

Mr Phiri said he was aware that schools have started to prepare candidates for this year’s final examination with a view to improve from last year’s results, and encouraged them to work harder in order to attain the goal.

“Schools have just completed administering national mock examinations which are used as yardstick to gauge the learner’s preparedness for the final examinations. The practical components at secondary level are already in progress. Given the dedication of our teachers we are hopeful that this year’s results will improve,” he said.

About the on Orphan Care Programme, Mr Phiri said the cut-off point for orphans and needy students for the 2023/24 sponsorship cycle was 31 points.

He said 16 eligible students who were admitted at various tertiary schools applied for government sponsorship and the Department of Tertiary Education Financing sponsored them.

“The department organised a brief meeting with the students, themed Excel with hard work, perseverance and dedication aimed at motivating the students and preparing them for tertiary school life,” he said.

Treaditionally, Mr Phiri said orphans were catered and cared for by extended families, adding that in 2014 the Sub District had a total of 895 orphans while to date there are 553 orphans, who have since been assisted by the council due to the challenges in socio economic status.

“The economic capacity weakened thus rendering people to being unable to provide for these children. It should be noted that the number of orphans was also worsened by illnesses such as HIV/AIDS. But with intensified government interventions such as counselling and provision of medication people live longer to take care of their children,” he said.

Victims have suffered  defilement, child neglect and rape.

Out of 180 cases handled in the district, there are 60 defilement cases, 38 rape cases, 13 child neglect cases and 45 cases of children in conflict with the law.

Mr Phiri said the council had placed nine children in places of safety due to unfavourable environment they lived in.

The district has registered three cross border cases involving minors, which the office was handling with the help of Social Protection. “This denotes that a collaborative stakeholder effort is required in protecting children in our communities,” he said.

Mr Phiri said rapid economic development led to village to urban migration,  leaving behind the elderly mostly in rural areas. Lack of family support has led to the formulation of this programme in 1980.

The district has 1 468 permanent destitute, 269 temporary destitute 1 833 needy students, and 81 needy children. In 2014, there were 70 temporaty destitute persons, 1775 needy students, and 44 needy children. There has been an increase in all categories over the years due to economic challenges and family support erosion,” he said. ENDS