Teen mothers struggle to return to school despite re-entry policy
By Milliam.Murigi, October 23, 2023It is 5am in Nairobi and Cynthia Jane*, 18 is up, not only to prepare for school, but also to prepare and care for her six-month-old baby’s food before heading to school.
Since her baby started weaning, this has been the routine for Cynthia.
Though it is a hard routine to follow for this teen mother who is also preparing to sit for her Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE) examinations, which is set to begin in a few days, she doesn’t complain.
“Parenting while schooling is not easy. It’s a significant challenge that requires a great deal of determination, resilience, and support. However, I have learned how to balance schooling with my new responsibilities as a mother,” she says.
Cynthia, early in the year had to drop out of school to give birth and care for her child for three months, and she is glad that her parents allowed her to go back to school in June to continue with her education.
“I have seen so many teen mothers drop out of school never to return because of motherhood. I consider myself lucky because my parents have decided to give me a second chance. It was not easy to convince them to allow me back to school, but my teachers intervened,” she recounts.
To ensure that she manages to juggle parenting and schooling, she had to transfer from her previous school, which was abit far from home to a nearby school. In her new school, teachers and school administrators have been supportive of her situation.
Breastfeeding breaks
They worked with her to create a flexible schedule that allowed her to attend classes while still being there for her baby. Her mother is also equally committed to her child’s well-being. She is the one who takes over baby duties when she is in school.
“I am always allowed to go breastfeed the baby when need be. Before the baby turned six months old, I used to go home to breastfeed during the short breaks between classes, but now that the baby has been introduced to solid food, I only go back home over the lunch hour to breastfeed,” she narrates.
Cynthia is lucky that she will be able to complete her education despite being a teen mother, unlike most girls in her position who never get the chance to return to class.
Despite the introduction of a new policy in Kenya in 1994 that enabled teenage mothers to continue schooling after delivery, most of girls who drop out of school do not return to class.
The policy requires school heads and teachers to unconditionally readmit teenage mothers into school. It specifies that if teen parents face stigma in their previous schools, they should be enrolled into a different school. “About two out of five (42 per cent) pregnant and parenting girls desire to return to school, but they are unable to due to several challenges, such as lack of childcare support and finding reliable and affordable childcare. Many schools don’t offer daycare services and for those that offer, one has to pay, making it difficult for the young mothers to attend classes,” reads part of a report released recently by the African Population and Health Research Center (APHRC), in partnership with Miss Koch Kenya and the Directorate of Children’s Services, Nairobi County.
Teen mothers also face financial constraints, as they must provide for both themselves and their children. The costs associated with childcare as well as lack of school supplies, which makes it challenging to focus on their education.
Other challenges are parental opposition to schooling and a hostile school environment. “As a result, although the desire to resume learning is there, the majority (79.3 per cent) of them, don’t want to return to their previous schools due to the fear of experiencing shame, stigmatisation, and discrimination from fellow students and teachers,” said Dr Caroline Kabiru, who leads the Sexual, Reproductive, Maternal, Newborn, Child and Adolescent Health (SRMNCAH) Unit at APRHC.
Provide financial support
The report dubbed Understanding the Lived Experiences of Pregnant and Parenting Adolescents in Korogocho, Nairobi reveals that to ensure that all the teen mothers go back to school after giving birth, there is a dire need for financial, childcare, school necessities and guidance and counseling support.
Apart from that, the government, through the Ministry of Education, should sensitise teachers and students to stop discriminating against teen mothers/parents who return to schools and should respect pregnant and parenting adolescents’ rights to an education free of stigma and discrimination. Provision of vocational training opportunities as well as reducing vocational training fees is also another recommendation.
Relevant stakeholders should also provide financial support for school fees, school uniforms and books, and child upkeep. Apart from that, schools should allow breastfeeding breaks for parenting girls in school.
“It is evident that most teen mothers are willing to go back to school, but are unable because of several reasons. It’s essential to create an environment that encourages and empowers them to pursue their education and achieve their goals,” said Dr Kabiru.
In Kenya, the 2022 KDHS survey shows about 15 per cent of girls in Kenya begin childbearing before their 19th birthday. The national average masks within-country inequality in adolescent childbearing prevalence. Disaggregated data show that girls from poor households are by far the most affected with rates as high as two in five girls. The burden of adolescent childbearing is higher in urban slums than in non-slum urban areas.
The high burden of early often unintended childbearing is driven by factors, such as poverty, sexual violence, lack of accurate knowledge about prevention measures, limited access to contraceptives, restrictive sexual and reproductive health (SRH) policies, and lack of policies and programmes.