260 dropouts return to school in Salima

At least 260 girls who dropped out school in Traditional Authority (T/A) Mwanza in Salima have gone back to school, thanks to interventions aimed at ending child marriages by the Gender Equality and Women Empowerment (Gewe) and communities.
Mwanza disclosed this at Kanyongola Primary School on Wednesday during activities to mark this year’s African Girl Child Day and the launch of End Early Marriages’ Campaign in  the area.
Said Mwanza: “I feel proud that we now have managed to bring back to class 260 school dropout girls. Through our Mother Groups, we closely monitor girl children education to ensure they report and remain in school to complete their studies.’’
She said she will continue mobilising communities to end child marriages by championing community by-laws which Salima district commissioner already endorsed.
She said the community by-laws are aimed at reinforcing the vision of getting every girl child in class and that penalties and fines were put in place to ensure adherence to the same.
Besides the by-laws, Mwanza also mobilised her subjects to build a house for a female teacher who will be acting as a role model for girls.
One of the girls who has returned to school straight from marriage is a 17 year old Mercy Allan.
Mercy said she dropped out of school after being made pregnant by a Form Two boy while she was in Standard Eight.
“Unfortunately, we lost the baby and his parents resent him to school, but kept me at home where they wanted me to work in the farm. What pained me most is that they wanted to use the money from the agricultural proceeds to finance their son’s education. I felt this was very unfair and an abuse of my right to education,” she said.