Description
ABSTRACT
Being pregnant as a young teenager is normally connected with various interruptions for youngladieswithregardstoclassparticipation.Thepregnant teenager whoareinschoolarelefttounwindthe interruptions some of the time all alone. Denying them the help they have to seek after theirschoolingsentencethemandtheirinfantstoanendlessloopofneedinessandobliviousness.Intheeventthatsocietyanticipatesthattheyoungladiesshouldbeeffectivewithtutoring,theremustbearrangement that objectives their exceptional instructive requirements. The study explored theperception of educators about the difficulties confronting adolescent moms in Secondary Schools in Ado Local Government, Ekiti State. The purposeful sampling technique was used in selecting the teachers involved. Afocused group discussion was used in gathering and data analysis was done thematically. Whilethe results indicate that, majority of the teenage mothers in school are mostly tired even beforetheycometoschool,itfurtherrevealedthatthemajorityoftheteachersperceivepregnant teenagershaving low self-esteem, poor time management, role conflict and how they are supported wereamongthethingsdiscussed. Therecommendationsto tackle theseperceptions weremade.
KEYWORDS: TeenageMothers,School,Teachers, performance, pregnant teenagers.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
TITLE PAGE
APPROVAL PAGE
DEDICATION
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
ABSTRACT
TABLE OF CONTENT
CHAPTER ONE
- INTRODUCTION
- BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY
- PROBLEM STATEMENT
- AIM AND OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY
- RESEARCH QUESTIONS
- SCOPE OF THE STUDY
- DEFINITION OF TERMS
CHAPTER TWO
2.0 LITERATURE REVIEW
2.1 THEORETICALFRAMEWORK
2.2 CONCEPTUAL REVIEW OF THE STUDY
2.3 EMPIRICAL REVIEW OF THE STUDY
CHAPTER THREE
3.0 MATERIALS AND METHOD
3.1 STUDY DESIGN
3.3 POPULATION OF THE STUDY
3.4 DATA COLLECTION
3.5 INSTRUMENTATION
3.6 VALIDITY OF THE INSTRUMENT
3.7 RELIABILITY OF THE INSTRUMENT
CHAPTER FOUR
4.0 RESULT AND DISCUSSION
4.1 RESULT
4.2 DISCUSSION
4.3 LIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY
CHAPTER FIVE
5.0 CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATION
- CONCLUSIONS
5.2 RECOMMENDATION
CHAPTER ONE
1.0 INTRODUCTION
1.1 BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY
Education is a light which can help to shape and brighten the lives of children. It is therefore theresponsibility of all governments to ensure that everyone is given the chance to benefit from it. Itisalsointhefundamentalinterestsofsocietytoseethatthishappening,progress,sinceeconomicandsocial development depends upon it.(Adaji et al., 2017).
The success made after the post-Dakar period; from 2000 to 2009 notwithstanding, girls remain amajority of the many children who dropped out-of- school. The 2010 EFA Global MonitoringReport (GMR) indicates that, of an about 72 million out-of-school children, 54% out of these areadolescents(Wolpe, 2017).
Wolpe (2017) reports that, ‘teenage girl’s education bears more equitable fruits of nationaldevelopment, stronger families, better services, quality child health and effective participation inthe governance process’. Upon all the obvious benefits of education for national development,research data show that more girls are in school than boys (Wanyama et al., 2017). More so, the reportestimatesthatgirl’sprimaryschoolcompletionratewaslaggingbehindthatofboys,at76%whilstthat of boys stand at 85% (Wanyama et al., 2017). This gender imbalance means that more adolescentgirls are out of school every year. Wanyama et al (2017) showed a worrisome report showing that over20milliongirlswereoutofschoolin1990andthatfigureroseto24millionin2002.Themeaningthereforeis that a lot moregirlsareout ofschool in most part oftheworld.
However, different girls in different parts of the world face different challenges in educationalparticipation. Adolescent pregnant schoolgirls and young mothers face unique challenges inensuring that their new mothering roles and identities do not lead to into premature exit fromschooling(Vinnerjung, 2017).
In a study carried out by Vexler et al (2016), it is identified that three things are likely to happen to anadolescentpregnantgirl.Sheiseitherexpelledfromschool,allowedtore-entry,andorallowedtocontinue her schooling. The expulsion policy violates the human rights of the girl and robs thecountry of a possible resource (Suleman & Mohamed, 2019; Suleman, Mohamed & Ahmmed,2020).Theexpulsionpolicyhasbeencriticisedasonethatisuncaringtotheneedsofthegirlsandthatittendstobracketthereasonsforteenagepregnancyasagirl’sproblemandfailtolookatthefactors that lead to her getting pregnant before completing her education. The re-entry policy onthe other hand has been criticised for being discriminatory; for example, schoolboys who arefathers or fathers to be are not asked to leave school until the child is born. Although thecontinuation policy respects the human rights of the girl’s education, it may well overlook otherrights such as the right to support and comfort during pregnancy and after childbirth. Womenwhobecomeparentsduringadolescenceandearlytwentiesfacesignificantbarriersto life development. Younger mothers and fathers are more likely to come from low-incomefamilieswithlowereducationalattainmentcomparedtootherparents(Suleman et al., 2019).Comparedtothemajorityofparents,youngerparentsaremorelikelytohaveunplannedpregnanciesresultingininsufficienttimeforthedevelopmentofparentingknowledgeandskills;thearrivalofachildismore likely to interfere with or block the attainment of educational, housing and career goals forthis group (Suleman et al., 2019). Common barriers faced by many young mothers include problemswithliteracy,lackofgeneralknowledgeandcopingskills,inadequatefamilysupportandmemoriesofnegative,judgmentalexperienceswithserviceproviders(Vexler et al., 2016).
1.2 Statement of the Problem
Despitethewindowofopportunityprovidedbythecontinuation policy onschoolgirlmothers,amajorityof them do not return to class after childbirth in Ado Local Government, Ekiti State. While teenage motherhood isacknowledged as a global social concern whose impact on education is far reaching, the remainingpolicy provides young mothers with an opportunity to complete their education and enjoy itsbenefits.Ithas,however,emergedthatthepolicymightnotadequatelyprotectyoungmothersfromchallenges related to mothering while schooling. These challenges relate to the wellbeing of theyoung mother within the school and at home. There was a dearth of information with regard to thefactors that determine schooling choices and opportunities for the teenage mothers after childbirthinin Secondary Schools in Ado Local Government, Ekiti State.
1.3 Purpose of the study
Thepurposeofthisstudywastoexploreanddescribeteachers’perceptionsofthechallengesfacedbyadolescent mothers in Secondary Schools in Ado Local Government, Ekiti State.
Specifically it found out:
- what are the causes of unwanted pregnancy among the females students
- the effect of unwanted pregnancy on education of the female student
- What is the nature of the support available for an unwanted pregnancy of female students?
1.4 RESEARCH QUESTIONS
i. Howdoteachersperceiveadolescentmothers in Secondary Schools in Ado Local Government, Ekiti State?
ii. Whatsupportis available forteenagemothersin Secondary Schools in Ado Local Government, Ekiti State?
1.5 SCOPE OF THE STUDY
This study covered all teachers and female students in Secondary Schools in Ado Local Government, Ekiti State. Ten(10)teacherswerepurposelyselected.
1.6 OPERATIONAL DEFINITION OF TERMS
Effect: thisrefers to as the consequence of female students’ unwanted pregnancy on girl child education.
Pregnant Female Student: A pregnant female student is a student who got pregnant during her course of education.
Causes: this is refers to as the antecedent associated to female students unwanted pregnancy in secondary schools. This include violence, age discrepancy in relationship, child environmental factor etc
Support Available: this are services provided by the government, school administrator and parents of female students who fall into the challenge of unwanted pregnancy to help in providing basic education to the affected female child.
CHAPTER FIVE
5.1 CONCLUSION
It was clear from the interviews conducted that the majority of the teenage mothers in school aremostlytiredevenbeforetheycometoschool.Also,themajorityoftheteachersrevealedthatmostteenage mothers had low self-esteem. It was further revealed from the responses that many of theteenage mothers in school were not able to manage their time very well and as such it affectedtheir studies. What is more, teenage mothers in school grapple with how to combine their studentlifewith their new rolesas mothers.
5.2 Recommendations
Basedonthefindingsofthisstudy,thefollowingrecommendationsweremade:
- The government should impose stiffer penalties on customary practices like patriarchy genderpreference andearlymarriagesthatunderminecontinuation.
- Stakeholdersshouldalsostrengthenlinkagesbetweenschoolsandhomestosupportre-entryandensure follow up on pregnancy dropout cases in order to overcome socio-cultural challenges tore-entry.
- Teachers, parents and pupils should be sensitized to enhance awareness on schoolgirl mothers’remainingrightsandchangetheirnegativeattitudetowardsteenagemotherhoodcontinuation.
