By Evans Dakwa, News Editor
Lukange, Beitbridge-The Rainbow District of Beitbridge converged at Lukange Primary School for the belated celebration of the Day of the African Child , a day rooted in the June 16 1976 massacre of black children in South Africa for demonstrating against the trampling of their rights by the apartheid regime of the day.
Children, parents, community leaders and Government officials listened as talented children took time to express themselves on their special day through drama, poetry, speeches, music and dance.
The message was clear from the children, ‘help us to achieve the best we can through investing in our education.’ When Guest of Honour and Beitbridge East Junior Member of Parliament Phathutshedzo Muleya took to the podium, she amplified the rallying call from the children urging the Government to invest in more schools and reduce the distance travelled by children, itself a barrier to education.
“Government is reminded that there are still areas children walk long distances to school, and the quality of education is poor due to educational equipment, facilities and other resources. This situation is particularly prevalent in remote rural resettlement areas where our people would have moved from established communities. We urge Government to support current efforts towards innovative financing of schools in order to address the needs of these communities with speed in line with His Excellency, Cde. Dr. F.D. Mnangagwa’s transformative promise of leaving no place and no one behind.”
She did not mince her words explaining the need to invest in skills development a low hanging fruit and a critical pillar towards safeguarding the future of young people of the country.
“I am particularly concerned with the more than 2 million young people who are reportedly without skill, not in an education system nor employment. These young people become marginalized and vulnerable due to the fact that they are not able to make informed decisions about their lives neither have the ability and power to negotiate around matters concerning their livelihoods. I therefore, call upon Government to put more resources in Vocational Training. Vocational skills are practical skills specific to a career, trade or job role,” she added.
As the scourge of Drug and Substance Abuse threatens to wipe out a generation, Honourable Muleya urged the young people to be visionaries at a tender age and do their part in shunning drugs and contribute meaningfully to economy Zimbabwe.
“Under the National Development Strategy 1, we, the young people, are called upon to focus on the Human Capital Development, Social Protection, Digital Economy as well as Youth and Cultural Identity Pillars in order to ensure the relevance of the education and training that our Government is providing projects we can do to end the abuse of drugs and substances amongst our peers this country is to achieve upper middle-income status by 2030 we must change ways, put country first and win the war against drug and substance abuse soon- rather than later.”.
The Junior Member of Parliament also urged the government to honour its commitment to the provision of at least one hot, balanced meal every day to learners in school. She also highlighted that climatic change is a reality, and the Heritage- based Curriculum could not have come at a more opportune time as climate smart initiatives for the resilience of our education and training system in Zimbabwe are critical at this juncture.
The theme for this year’s Day of the African Child was Education for all in Africa, time is now, a rallying call to priorotise education as part of the sustainable development matrix.