Challenges Facing Teen Mothers’ Integration In Mixed Secondary Schools In Nyamira South Sub - County, Nyamira County, Kenya

Abstract

Teenage pregnancy leads to dropout of girls from school. As a consequence, it makes the girl child incapable of fending for herself and to become socially and economically unproductive in society. In Nyamira South Sub-County, the number of teenage pregnancies is on the increase despite the various government interventions to mitigate the vice and enable teenage mothers continue with their studies. Such interventions include the government policy of integration of the teen mothers in school which was introduced in 1994. The policy allows teen mothers to come back to school to continue with their studies after delivery. However, little is known in the international literature on the challenges teen mothers who come back to school after delivery to complete their studies face and to what extent they are taking advantage of the integration policy. The purpose of this study was to establish the challenges facing teen mothers’ integration in mixed secondary schools in Nyamira South Sub-County of Nyamira County, Kenya. The specific objectives of the study were to investigate factors influencing the rate of teenage pregnancies in mixed secondary schools in Nyamira South Sub-County, Nyamira County, to establish academic challenges teen mothers face in mixed schools, find out the socio-economic challenges teen mothers face in mixed schools and to establish measures that can curb teenage pregnancies in schools in Nyamira South Sub-County. The study findings could lead to a better understanding of the challenges teen mothers face in mixed secondary schools and equip school managers with relevant skills on how to handle teen mothers in school. The study was based on the social cognitive theory. Descriptive survey design was employed in the study. The study population was 42 principals, 42 guidance and counseling teachers and 5953 girls. Clustered sampling was used to select 13 public mixed secondary schools in the Sub-County whose principals, guidance and counseling teachers and students participated in the study. Purposive sampling was used to select the Sub-County Quality and Standards Officer and Director of Health services as respondents in the study. Questionnaires and interview schedules were used to collect data. Four schools were used in the pilot study to act as pre- test of instruments of data collection to ensure their reliability. Face validity of the instruments was determined by three experts in the faculty of Education, Kisii University and ensured they complied with universal standard of proposal and research finding reporting. The supervisors’ advice was incorporated to improve the instruments before data collection. Reliability of the research items was determined by Pearson correlation coefficient at level 0.78. The split-half technique of reliability testing was employed. Data collected was summarized and analyzed quantitatively and qualitatively. Quantitative data was analyzed using descriptive statistics and presented in form of percentages, frequencies and tables. Qualitative data was transcribed and analyzed into various themes as they emerged and interview data reported verbatim. The study revealed that teenage mothers in school were stigmatized, discriminated and experience financial challenges that make them drop out of school. The study concluded that the challenges teenage mothers face in school need urgent remedy for Kenya to realize the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and Vision 2030. The study findings will be used by the government to come up with better ways of promoting girl child education. The study recommends for the enactment and implementation of stringent laws by the government to safeguard the rights of the girl child in school. The Ministry of Education should also ensure that teenage mothers in school are not stigmatized or discriminated. The study recommended further research on challenges facing teenage mothers’ integration in pure girls’ boarding schools and in primary schools.