Journal of Management and Policy Issues in Education (JMPIE), Vol.1 (1) (2024), 40-55 ISSN: 2773-6687, E-ISSN: 2773-6695 https://doi.org/10.58548/2024.jmpie11.4055 Education as the revolving door into the streets and back home among street-involved children in Harare, Zimbabwe Samson Mhizha Department of Applied Psychology, University of Zimbabwe, Harare, Zimbabwe Post-Doctoral Fellow-Future Africa Research Leadership Fellowship, University of Pretoria, South Africa smmhizha30@gmail.com https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5958-0834 Abstract This article explores the roles of education in driving children onto the streets and facilitating reunification with family. These roles are discussed in terms of how they contribute to street childhood and how they become part of a reintegration package. Against this background, education is considered a social vaccine against risky behaviours among children. The data were collected using a qualitative research approach, employing semi- structured interviews with street-involved children and key informants. The study purposively sampled 18 participants, including 10 street-involved children, eight informants from the Ministry of Labour and Social Welfare, Non-Governmental Organisation staff, guardians and former street-involved children. Of the 10 street- involved children, five were females and the other five were males. Data analysis revealed that these children faced education-related risk factors such as material poverty, differential treatment, adverse childhood experiences, truancy, stigma, and peer influence. The children employed resilience pathways like reunification support and putting personal effort into their schooling. The article recommends the government ensure that children from poor, blended and at-risk families receive mental health and financial support to continue attending school. Street- involved and at-risk children require comprehensive schooling support, family strengthening and protection from abuse to ensure their well-being and safety. Keywords: Street-involved children, education, resilience, vulnerability, well-being and family reunification Introduction International policy agendas, such as the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), prioritise universal access to quality education, locating school as the place where children “belong” and education-presaged as improving outcomes and life changes as a remedy for poverty (Kaneva & Corcoran, 2020; Boyden, 2015). While education has become universally pertinent through global legislation and policy, translating those ambitions into practice is certainly less easy (Corcoran et al., 2020). The right to education is determinedly preserved within the United Nations and the General Comment on Children in Street Situations provides definitive international directives for governments to tailor policy and support programmes for street-involved children (United Nations, 2017). While the general comment is a useful advocacy tool, there is little research into how these rights are translated at the local level, or used to encourage collaboration between Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) and local authorities for delivering context-appropriate interventions (Lucchini & Stoecklin,