Masvingo, (New Ziana) – Over 200 000 pupils in Masvingo province are on Basic Education Assistance Module (BEAM) program, the majority of whom are identified by Community Care Workers (CCWs), said a senior Government official in the province.
BEAM is a program in the country that helps vulnerable children between the ages of six and 19 pay for school fees, examinations and other educational costs.
The program was introduced by the government in 2001 as part of the Enhanced Social Protection Project (ESPP).
In an interview with the media, Masvingo province Social Development Officer, Stanislaus Sanyangowe paid tribute to partners such as CCWs and the United Nations Children’s Education Fund (UNICEF) whom they work closely with in identifying and paying for their birth certificates registration.
“For the province we have about 221 050 children who are on BEAM in 2025 and on birth registration again our CCWs assist us to identify and then we approach civil registrar’s department who will assist us in registering those children,” said Sanyangowe.
He said partners such as UNICEF also provides them with some emergency funds which they use to pay for the children’s registration at the registrar’s department.
Meanwhile, some CCWs in Chiredzi have expressed concern over the registration process of BEAM program beneficiaries.
Portia Mukwindidza a CCW in the district who is part of community cadres working with the ministry of Public Service Labour and Social Welfare and UNICEF with financial support from the Swedish Government in child protection initiatives said they are facing challenges, with schools insisting that each year, beneficiaries are supposed to reapply for the scheme, a move she said was cumbersome and also disadvantages children who sometimes wait at home while their applications were still being processed.
Mukwindidza suggested that it would be proper if the application and registration is a once off exercise.
“We are proposing that once a child has been accepted into the scheme, there is no longer any need to reapply until he/she completes primary education,” she said.
Mukwindidza said a lot of children are losing learning time whilst awaiting the outcome of their applications and appealed to the government to have that policy reviewed for the benefit of the children.
-New Ziana