Author: Wellington Samkange (Midlands State University)
Abstract: This study sought to establish factors that contributed to child marriages in two Chegutu urban and peri-urban clusters of Zimbabwe. It used the mixed research method and the descriptive survey design. Five primary schools and five secondary schools were purposively sampled out of a total of forty schools in the clusters. Two hundred stakeholders were randomly selected from a population of one thousand five hundred. A questionnaire and interviews were used to collect data from selected school heads, teachers, parents, school development committee members and community leaders. The study established that poverty, socio-economic background, society’s perception of marriage, cultural values, lack of information and religion remain major drivers of child marriages. At the same time, the school curriculum did not fully address the issues of children’s rights and health education. The study recommends a radical approach to ending child marriages which may include banning religious sects and traditional practices that promote child marriages. It further recommends an improvement of the school curriculum, for it to take the issue of children’s rights and health education seriously.