In Zimbabwe, an NGO, the Coalition Against Child Labour in Zimbabwe (Caclaz), has facilitated the return of over 1000 children to school in Chiredzi district in the last three years.
The concept of forming child labour free zones was pioneered in India where an organisation, MV Foundation, has since successfully re-integrated over a million school dropouts back into learning institutions.
The foundation has done that by setting up bridge schools where child labourers would get exceptional lessons that would enable their re-integration into the mainstream school.
Zimbabwe and five other African countries — Uganda, Morocco, Kenya, Ghana and Ethiopia — are among the first to adopt the idea two years ago.
Caclaz, using the same concept, has — with the help of the community, government and other NGOs — created what they call “incubation centres” at two primary schools, Masimbiti and Uswaushava, in Chiredzi’s Ward 16.
Video created Story Maker, under Mobile Community Zimbabwe, a Free Press Unlimited initiative to foster community based citizen reporting.
