Robert Mugabe School of Education, Heritage and Humanities
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Item Strategies for Mitigating Drug Abuse Among Female Learners in Chiredzi Dstrict: an Ecological Perspsctive(Great Zimbabwe University, 2023) Tsingo ConstanceThe aim of the study was to come up with strategies for mitigating drug abuse among female secondary school learners in selected Chiredzi district schools. At the same time, the study established if learners were aware of the adverse effects of drug abuse. The study was informed by Urie Bronfenbrenner’s Ecological theory and the Feminist theory. The theories were chosen on the basis that the Ecological theory attempts to explain the behaviour of children in relation to the environment they are nurtured in, while the Feminist theory is related to gender issues that affect the girl child. The researcher employed the interpretivist paradigm and a qualitative case study design. Data were generated through purposive sampling of four school heads, four disciplinary committee chairpersons, four Guidance and Counselling heads of departments and twenty-four learners. Semi-structured interviews, focus group discussions and document analysis were used to collect information from the participants. The study established that the fight against drug abuse by female secondary school learners could be won by making homes more habitable and schools conducive to the academic well-being of female secondary school learners. The study also revealed that schools were trying their best to stop drug abuse among learners through school-based campaigns, stringent school rules and guidance and counselling, despite the fact that the teachers lacked guidance and counselling professional qualifications. The study recommended that all stakeholders collaborate in the fight against drug abuse. The Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education should train Guidance and Counselling teachers so that they may be able to deal with drug abuse issues. The study also recommended that Non-Governmental Organisations and churches take the lead in the campaigns against drug abuse and also that the police should be more vigilant and should receive continuous training on drug abuse issues. Thus, all stakeholders need to revisit the root causes and fight against drug abuse in pursuant of the mantra by His Excellence, the President of the Republic of Zimbabwe, that Nyika inovakwa nevene vayo. The study contributes a model for mitigating drug abuse in which schools will be serving as focal centres.