Importance of symposium to female students
MOST female students agreed that this event was long overdue given the challenges that the girl child faces. The presentations that focussed on girl child empowerment were crucial in motivating girls to be innovative and become financially independent.
One Public Administration final year student had this to say: “I liked the opportunity to interact with the First Lady and the mentorship we got at the symposium, but I feel these initiatives should be sustainable meaning - that there should be follow up programmes so that we can be able to measure the impact of the effort that would have been put.
“This should not just be a once-off event as people tend to relax again. The encouragement for female students to come up with credible and sustainable projects is a critical issue which should be embraced.”
She also noted that, she hopes to start own projects after completion of her studies, though there is always a craving to seek employment. This event was a morale booster.
Other interviewees also appreciated that starting small, such as becoming a make-up artist or running catering businesses, is the way to go in a largely informal economy such as ours. What is of paramount importance is the attainment of skills to run projects and business ventures as well as networking for youth entrepreneurs.
In a wide-ranging interview with a second year student at the University of Zimbabwe, she said the symposium was an eye-opener and highly inspirational. For her, it was a humbling act to see the First Lady interacting with female students from tertiary institutions and to come along with female achievers from diverse backgrounds yet doing well.
That alone, she observed, showed political will and concern for the female youths at colleges. The advice meant to discourage “blessers” or “sugar daddies” and the use of morning after pills are a depiction of the motherly role played by the First Lady.
Female students were encouraged to use their own hands (making cakes, soaps, perfumes) even though they are pursuing degrees because the current economy does not have a lot of formal employment opportunities.
The student also hinted on the circumstances underprivileged female students, who find it difficult to pay for accommodation, clothing and to raise bus fares during their period of study and that this exposed them to various temptations and unpalatable situations.