Story by John Nhandara
PARLIAMENT says it remains committed to ensuring learners have access to quality education and adequate infrastructure, following the conclusion of nationwide verification field visits.
Junior Parliamentarians and their senior counterparts met in Harare on Wednesday for a joint engagement aimed at addressing challenges affecting young people, particularly in the education and health sectors.
Junior Minister of Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs, Honourable Shalom Chiwawa, said issues such as child marriages and teenage pregnancies continue to negatively affect learners, calling for coordinated interventions.
“There are issues of child marriages and teenage pregnancies affecting our learners,” she said.
Junior MP for Zvimba North Constituency, Honourable Patricia Nyamukunda, said the engagement provided a platform to identify gaps within the education system.
“It is important that we discuss how we can enhance our education systems by identifying certain gaps,” she said.
Child President Lionel Mazarire said discussions also focused on improving learners’ access to health services.
“We discussed issues of access to health facilities for learners,” he noted.
The engagement concluded with a consensus on the need to develop immediate and practical solutions aimed at strengthening youth development, particularly in the education sector.
Director of Mashambanzou Care Trust, Constance Chigwamba, said the dialogue was informed by field-based verification visits designed to capture the lived realities of learners.
“The gathering was motivated by the need to obtain first-hand information from school-going children, as well as to identify challenges they face in accessing education and health services, and how these can inform planning and policy reforms,” she said.
Chairperson of the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Primary and Secondary Education, Honourable Ophias Murambiwa, said ongoing government programmes are aimed at reducing learner travel distances through school development initiatives.
“We conducted verification visits. We have PPS in place to ensure we establish more schools to reduce the travelling distance for learners,” he indicated.
Chairperson of the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Health and Child Care, Honourable Decent Bajila, said the engagement would inform future policy debates in Parliament.
“They spoke, we listened, and it will inform us as we go to Parliament and debate these issues in policy making,” he said.
The dialogue also raised concern over drug and substance abuse among young people, with stakeholders calling for a coordinated and holistic response to address the growing challenge.
