Teenage pregnancies must be tackled

In the last few weeks, there have been media reports of many school-going girls being confirmed pregnant in parts of the country.

Perhaps the most heart wrenching is that of a primary school in Kwale County, where it was reported that for six years, no girl has transitioned to secondary school. This was attributed mainly to teenage pregnancies and early marriages.

These reports, coming hot on the heels of a World Bank report ranking Kenya among countries with the highest rates of jobless citizens between the ages of 15 and 24, paint a gloomy future for Kenya’s socio-economic prospects.

When a teenage girl becomes pregnant, her prospects change drastically, and rarely for the better. In majority of the cases, her education comes to an abrupt end and her prospects for future employment or entrepreneurship fade. Consequently, she becomes more vulnerable to poverty, exclusion and dependence.

A lot of energy and resources dedicated towards preventing early pregnancy have typically focused on girls aged between 15 and 19 years. While this is an important age group, girls aged 14 and below are left exposed and face an elevated level of risk of complications and death from pregnancy and childbirth.

This group of very young adolescents is typically overlooked by, or beyond the reach of, health, education and development institutions, often because they are in forced marriages.

Deliberate efforts should be made to bring these very young adolescents into the conversation about teenage pregnancy.

A pregnant teenage girl is very likely going to be pressured or forced to leave school, denying her the right to an education. Without education, the girl has limited access to employment. This consigns her to a life of poverty where her children are malnourished, unhealthy and have many health complications.

The children of these teenage mothers will most likely not get good education as they stay at home helping their mothers in supplementing family income. So when their turn to bear children comes, they find themselves perpetuating the poverty cycle. Studies indicate that inequality declines as the average level of educational attainment increases, with secondary education producing the greatest payoff, especially for women.

There is considerable evidence that even in settings where people are deprived of other essential services like sanitation or clean water, children of educated mothers have much better prospects of survival than do the children of uneducated mothers.

 

Education is therefore a powerful factor in levelling the field of opportunity as it provides individuals with the capacity to obtain a higher income and standard of living. A study by the Centre for the Study of Adolescence (CSA), found that 13,000 girls in Kenya leave school every year due to pregnancy.

It further showed that while only 35 per cent aged between 16 and 20 are in school, 50 per cent of boys the same age attend. Yet enrollment of boys and girls in lower primary is almost equal.

In order to reduce the issue of youth unemployment, we must urgently address the issue of dropout rates affecting school-going girls.

We must implement existing policies to help girls stay in school. Interestingly, Kenya has enacted various educational policies meant to keep girls in school. One such policy is the educational re-entry policy for girls after teenage pregnancy.

This policy was meant to promote the education of girls and help the country towards the attainment of education for all Kenyans. It was introduced in Kenya in 1994 and supported young mothers to continue schooling after delivery.

Through this policy, the government hoped to increase the number of young mothers who continued schooling after delivery.

It is therefore vital for action to be taken to prevent teenage pregnancies and equally importantly, to help those affected get their education back on track.