On March 6, 2020, the Education Amendment Act entered into force, guaranteeing a better access to education, notably for girls and children with disabilities, as well as prohibiting corporal punishments in Zimbabwe.
The Amendment complies with some of the urging recommendations made by the Committee on the Rights of the Child in its 2016 concluding observations, and the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women in its 2020 concluding observations.
Compulsory schooling and prohibition of corporal punishment
After defining “basic education” as the education received from childhood education up to the fourth form, the Amendment states the right for every child to be entitled to compulsory, free, basic education. Parents who would deprive their child from such right will face charges.
In addition to guaranteeing economic accessibility to education, the Amendment tackles the physical accessibility of schools by requiring every local authority to provide land for school infrastructure. In fact, as reported by NGOs in the shadow report for Zimbabwe’s 2016 Universal Periodic Report, in some places there is a shortage of schools, with some children walking up to 10 kilometres to the nearest school.
Furthermore, after the 2013 Constitutional reform leading to the recognition of children’s right to be protected from maltreatment or any form of abuse (§81) and the 2017 High Court ruling finding corporal punishment in schools to be unconstitutional, the Amendment explicitly prohibits corporal punishment of children. It includes every treatment which violates the human dignity of the child or which amounts to physical or psychological torture, or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment, as well as beating up children.
Girls and children with disabilities’ rights
According to the Ministry of Education 2018 Annual Education Statistics Report, pregnancy was the cause of almost 8% of drops out of secondary school, affecting in 98% cases girls’ education. In order to tackle this issue, the Amendment inserts a reference to the appointment of sexual and reproductive health personnel. In addition, the Amendment prohibits discrimination and exclusion of children on the basis of pregnancy. Furthermore, while a 2014 UNESCO report estimated that one in ten girls in Sub-Saharan Africa misses school during their menstrual cycle, the Amendment contains an obligation for the State to provide sanitary ware and other menstrual health facilities in all school to promote menstrual health.
Finally, the Amendment recognises that every registered school must provide infrastructure suitable for use by children with disabilities. The State must also monitor whether children with disabilities rights are considered during teaching and learning. However, it is noteworthy to mention that while the “Non exclusion of pupils from school” section prohibits the exclusion for non-payment of fees or on basis of pregnancy, there is no reference to children with disabilities.
Progress achieved by this Amendment is to be commended. Now adequate resources, both humane and financial must be allocated in order for these achievements to become a reality for children.