At Least 50,000 Learners Drop Out in 2024 Over Pregnancy, Poverty

Zimbabwe’s education sector is reeling after nearly 50,000 primary and secondary school learners dropped out of school in 2024, with teenage pregnancies and distance-related challenges emerging as the main culprits.

The shocking figures were confirmed in Parliament by Deputy Minister of Primary and Secondary Education, Angeline Gata, who revealed that 15,809 primary and 33,746 secondary school learners had exited the system—a combined total of 49,555 dropouts nationwide.

The statistics came in response to a question posed by Mashonaland West Proportional Representation (PR) Member of Parliament, Mutsa Murombedzi, who sought clarity on dropout numbers by province and district.

Midlands Province topped the list with a staggering 7,746 dropouts; 5,138 from secondary and 2,608 from primary schools.

Gokwe North and South alone accounted for nearly 2,500 secondary-level departures.

Other hard-hit provinces included:

• Mashonaland Central: 7,370 (4,318 secondary, 3,052 primary)
• Mashonaland West: 6,963 (4,771 primary, 2,192 secondary)
• Manicaland: 6,889 (4,842 secondary, 2,047 primary)
• Masvingo: 6,014 (3,786 secondary, 2,228 primary)

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Mashonaland East followed with 4,943 dropouts, while Matabeleland North and South recorded 4,215 and 2,359 respectively.

Urban provinces fared slightly better, with Harare posting 2,105 dropouts and Bulawayo the lowest at 942.

The government cited early pregnancies and the daunting distances some learners travel as key drivers of the crisis.

“Girls are dropping out because of pregnancy, this is a call to all of us, the House and parental involvement that we help each other with the community,” said Gata.

She added:

“There are quite a number of reasons of dropping out. Some may be caused by distance to school and schools are being built to adhere to five kilometres for a child to walk to school and some, it is just clear motivation from parents that needed.”

To tackle the problem, Gata said her ministry had rolled out an intervention strategy, with support from UNICEF.

“As the Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education, we have embarked on a programme that is called Early Warning System.

“This programme will help us with indications on what are the causes of school drop-outs in both primary and secondary school.”

“So, we are training our teachers who are helping us to identify communities that will need help. We are doing this partnering with UNICEF and it has been going on so far for six months.

“It has started already in schools and as we speak, they are on the ground training our staff.”

The government is also leveraging the BEAM programme to cover school fees for vulnerable learners.

“There are various reasons for school dropouts. Depending on the reasons, some of the reasons could be girls getting pregnant and school fees, which is being catered for by BEAM,” Gata said.

According to NewZimbabwe, these figures, which have reignited debate over the urgent need for more schools, stronger community engagement, and accessible sexual health education across the country.