The government has refuted claims by the Amalgamated Rural Teachers Union of Zimbabwe (ARTUZ) that about 63 per cent of rural pupils dropped out of school in 2022.

Ministry of Primary and Secondary education spokesperson Taungana Ndoro said the union was exaggerating the number. He responded to the report:

It’s just an allegation; a sensational one too.

In its report titled: Beyond geographies of inequality: Public Education Financing in Post-COVID-19 Zimbabwe, ARTUZ said rural learners are behind their urban counterparts. Artuz researcher Tamuka Chirimambowa said:

There are 63% of school dropouts in the rural areas and most of them are girls at secondary schools. The level of dropouts of girls which is continuously increasing is so disturbing. So when we look at this, it actually raises questions.

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There is a lack of reading skills with 85% of schoolchildren lacking reading skills, while 86% lack numerous skills compared to the urban schoolchildren where only 19% lack reading skills and only 14% lack numerous skills.

There is rural-urban divide inequality. In terms of digital infrastructure, schools in the rural areas lag behind. They are technologically behind. Physically, they don’t even have infrastructure like labs and this actually raises more challenges for the students.

There is a shortage of school teachers. There is a shortfall of 20 000 teachers and this affects more rural schools because there are some teachers who wouldn’t want to go teach where there are poor services and poor infrastructure. Inappropriate teacher-pupil ratio is also worsening teachers’ incapacitation.

While Chrimambowa did not state the reason why pupils are dropping out of school, some reports observe that school fees and pregnancies are leading factors.

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