ACCLAIMED Indian business tycoon, investor, and philanthropist Azim Hashim Premji once said, “A girl-child who is even a little bit educated is more conscious of family planning, health care and, in turn, her children’s own education.”
Mr Premji’s view is one that is shared by many.
There is also a popular quote which says “if you educate a man, you
educate one person. If you educate a woman, you educate a nation”.
It’s an often heard quote in development circles, including Zambia. Nailed to one of the many tree trunks in the surroundings of
Chamukwapulo Community School, somewhere in Sinazongwe district, is a
fading sign that reads, “Educating a girl-child is educating the whole
nation.”
One can tell it’s been there for quite some time. The words and message it carries are significant. However, as is the
case in most developing countries, girls’ education, which has been
identified as a United Nations Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) that
many countries are aiming to achieve by 2030, has had to compete with
social ills such as early marriages and teen pregnancies.
SDG number four prioritises an inclusive and equitable quality education and life-long learning opportunities for all. Whereas Government has been doing its part by coming up with a number
of policies and projects such as the Keep Girls in School project under
the Girls Education, Women Empowerment and Livelihoods (GEWEL)
programme, the scourge seems to be far from ending.
However, with the coming on board of Non-Governmental Organisations
(NGOs), traditional leaders, and also the church, there seems to be
hope.
In her recital poem, a Grade Six pupil of Gamela Community School in
Chief Cooma’s area in Choma said, “I want an education; don’t deprive me
of my right to it by marrying me off.”
Just like Chief Madzimawe in Eastern province, Chief Cooma of the
Tonga-speaking people of Choma district has taken a strong stance on
early marriages.
He has warned his subjects against the vice. The traditional ruler says he will not hesitate to have anyone
perpetrating the vice arrested and prosecuted by the courts of law.
“The First Lady, Mrs Lungu, is interested in seeing girls in school and
if as a chiefdom we start tolerating things like early marriages and
teenage pregnancies, we will be disappointing her. Please, let us make
sure that we are not in the news for the wrong issues,” he told his
subjects recently.
The chief said every parent should ensure that they educate their
girl-children as opposed to marrying them off at a tender age. The same is shared by his counterpart, Chief Chikanta of Kalomo district.
“It is the duty of every parent to ensure that their children are
educated. In fact, what should be happening is that as parents, we must
be teaching and encouraging our girl-children, and even boys on the
importance of education. Then after that, that’s when they can start
thinking of marriage,” he says.
To the girls, his message was simple and brief. “Concentrate on education and don’t think of marriage just yet.”
Apparently, eloping is quite common in this part of the country. “You see, our young girls sometimes like putting themselves in these
situations where they just elope with a man and marry themselves off,”
Chief Chikanta said. He said such marriages will be annulled and the
girls involved taken back to school.
He has also directed parents not to consent to any such marriages. “Times are getting hard and the economy is not favourable to uneducated
people. This is now time to start thinking of getting a better
education before anything else,” he says.
But of course, that’s not to mean that there are no teen pregnancies. “It’s just that I don’t have the figures but we do have such cases and
it worries us. That is why we, through the royal council, go around the
communities sensitising the subjects on the dangers of engaging in any
such vices,” he says.
As a country, Zambia has been making a number of policy pronouncements
that are aimed at ending child marriages and promoting equal access to
education.
Recently, Minister of Gender Victoria Kalima announced that Government
plans to revise the Marriage Act that will describe a child as any
person under the age of 21.
Ms Kalima said the relevant laws need to be harmonised to strengthen the fight against early marriage and defilement. At the moment, the law describes a child as anyone under the age of 16 while any person can marry at the age of 18.
MCMZ executive director Genious Musokotwane said in a statement that
the Marriage Bill, which is currently before the Ministry of Justice
heading to Parliament, will help address bottlenecks in the fight
against child marriage.
“But before enacting the Bill into law, we are aware of the Child Code
Bill that is also before the Ministry of Justice which also seeks to
address the age conflicts in defining a child among other matters. Our
worry with the Marriage Bill is that it is not attainable and may seek
amendments within a short space of time which might be costly for the
nation,” he said.
And at the last United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) in New York,
British Prime Minister Theresa May praised President Lungu for his
efforts towards the fight against human trafficking, forced labour and
also child marriage.
President Lungu and First Lady Esther have received many accolades for championing women’s rights. Last year, Zambia developed and launched a five-year National Strategy on Ending Child Marriage.
As of last year, Government provided resources to ensure that 14,000
girls were put in school in 2016 and retained until they complete their
secondary school education.
