   |
|
Misanet.com / National Mirror, 9 November - Teachers in Zambia's southwestern district Sesheke have expressed disappointment with parents in the area who are forcing their daughters to leave school and work as maids in neighbouring Namibia. Some teachers talked to said they were disappointed to see "parents forcing their daughters out of school for the love of money." Mr Joel Silapwa, a primary school teacher, said many girls just stop attending classes for more than a month, and when school authorities follow up their whereabouts, it is discovered their parents had asked them to stop school and cross borders to work as maids. Sesheke is a small, poor community on the short Zambian-Namibian border, tucked away in Zambia’s arid southwest. Sesheke consists of two small towns located on opposite sides of the Zambezi, and is most easily reached from Namibia. Across the border, in significantly richer Namibia, economic activity is more vital and Zambians seek across the border to do shopping and to earn money. - It's unfortunate to see how the girls are leaving school to go and work as housemaids, a situation which is worrying, Joel Silapwa says. And Mr Arthur Tumusiye, the Mwandi Basic School headmaster, confirmed the development. "You know it has been very easy for parents to send their children across because they have relatives who live in Namibia since there have been a lot of intermarriages between Zambians and Namibians," Tumusiye said. He regretted the development and urged parents not to discriminate against their children by allowing only their sons to go to school at the expense of girls. But some parents attributed the trend to high poverty levels and inability to afford school fees. Mrs Falesi Lubasi said she had allowed two of her children to work in Namibia because they earned an income that helped support the family. Mrs Lubasi (50) said drought which the area faced in the last three years worsened the poverty levels in the area. Another parent, Mr Newton Lubona said he had no money to pay for his children¹s school fees, saying it was the reason he had to send his girl children to go and earn some money. "Even if I don't send my children to go and work, they will still not attend school because I have no money for their school fees," Lubona said. Both the Zambian Constitution and the law entitle women to equality with men in most areas. However, in practice Zambian women are disadvantaged severely in formal employment and education compared with men. While 85.6% of Zambian men are literate, this only goes for 71.3% of Zambian women.
|
