How Poverty Keeps 2.7 Million Zimbabwean Children Out of School
More than 2.7 million children in Zimbabwe have dropped out of school due to poverty as of 2025, according to the Amalgamated Rural Teachers Union of Zimbabwe (ARTUZ).
Among them is an 11-year-old girl who now spends her school hours selling watermelons and sugarcane along the Victoria Falls–Bulawayo Road because her family cannot afford the US$45 tuition fee for her Grade 5 education.
Even with her strong determination to keep learning, the girl longs to return to her Grade 5 classroom—a space where she once found belonging and the chance to thrive.
Sadly, her family’s financial hardships have turned the seemingly small US$45 fee for tuition and school supplies into an impossible obstacle, keeping her dreams heartbreakingly out of reach.
Programs like the Basic Education Assistance Model (BEAM), intended to help disadvantaged children access education, often fail due to limited funding and the overwhelming demand for assistance.
Community advocates have highlighted the girl’s plight in a bid to mobilize support. Obert Dube, a celebrated poet and advocate known as “The African Poet,” first shared her story on Facebook.
Crime Watch Zimbabwe later amplified the story through their Twitter account, @CrimeWatchZW, bringing wider attention to the issue and sparking efforts to raise the US$45 needed to bring her back to school.
The girl’s grandparents rely on roadside sales, sometimes earning as little as US$8 a day—money that is often lost to theft or dishonest customers.
For them, the US$45 fee remains an insurmountable hurdle.
Donations can be made via EcoCash to +263774953004 (Obert Dube) or by contacting another representative at +263712336972.
