Calvin Manika
PARENTS in Hwange have raised concerns over the behaviour of their children during the lockdown.
Since the country enforced a Covid-19 induced lockdown in March last year, children have largely been out of school save for the examination sitting classes.
The concerns were raised last week at an open newsroom discussion held by a local community radio station under the theme, ‘Coping with children at home during the lockdown.’
Many parents who participated on the online discussion said schools must be opened as children are causing problems at home while some girl children are eloping or getting pregnant.
“There is hunger in our homes, our work has been affected for so long because of Covid-19, and many people are in the informal sector which is non-essential according to the regulations.
“The pension fund we are receiving is paltry that it cannot buy a 10 kg of mealie meal, so being full time with children is a challenge. No work, no school,” said one participant.
Another parent said opening of schools was not the solution to deal with misbehaving children.
“Proper guidance and counselling will help abantwana bethu. Asifundeni ukuhlala phansi labantwa bethu sibatshela ngempilo.”
Speaking on the same platform, Ruth Bikwa, the director of Hopeville Zimbabwe based in Hwange said parents must embrace the new normal setup as they are the best teachers especially during the lockdown.
“Children need a close supervision, monitor them and encourage them to be participative, protect them from Covid-19 and bad influence from outside,” she said.
Meanwhile, most of the children are attending online lessons to keep abreast with the syllabus and keep them occupied.
However, children’s activists said online learning initiative under the current economic and social conditions in Zimbabwe is discriminatory as in some places children cannot afford data bundles or experience network challenges.
