Impact of teenage motherhood on the academic performance in public primary schools in Bungoma County , Kenya

Teenage pregnancy and motherhood is a concern in both developed and developing countries and is a complex reality of contemporary society however the re-entry of teenage mothers into the school system continues to demand attention as society’s negative attitude towards pregnant girls and teenage mothers persists. Those who do return to school suffer from stigmatisation, ridicule, and abuse from both teachers and other learners. This study sought to investigate the impact of teenage motherhood on the academic performance in public primary schools in Bungoma County. The study was guided by social integration model on student retention in schools whose primary purpose was to explain how the interactions among different individuals within the academic, social systems and the communities which comprised them lead individuals of different characteristics to withdraw from that institution prior to completion. Descriptive survey was adopted for the study and employed both quantitative and qualitative technique where quantitative relies on the principle of verifiability and the researcher wants to obtain a large body of data or to perform statistical analysis in order to produce results that can be generalized to the target population while qualitative involves systematic collection, analysis and interpretation of data in order to provide description on selected issues hence the researcher used both techniques in order to maximize the strengths and minimize the limitation of each. The study employed stratified sampling, simple random and purposive sampling. A sample of 35 respondents (teenage mothers) and 3 head teachers from public schools in Kopsiro division were sampled for the study. The research instruments used were questionnaire and interview schedule and document analysis. The semi structured questionnaire were administered to the teenage mothers while closed ended interview schedule were administered to head teachers. Data was analyzed using descriptive statistics. The descriptive analyses was summarized using frequencies, percentages and cross-tabulations. The study found out that education prepares girls for jobs, livelihoods, and raises their self-esteem and that teenage motherhood leads to low educational attainment. The study recommended that by supporting teenage mothers would help them achieve their goals in education.


INTRODUCTION
Teenage motherhood is a global phenomenon affecting both developed and developing countries (Treffer, 2003) and is a complex reality of contemporary society (Lucker, 2010).According to Eloudou-Enyegue (2004) teenage motherhood in developing countries continue to constrain girls and young women from participating in education.
Int. J. Educ.Admin.Pol.Stud.Kaufman (2001) asserts that, both teenage pregnancy and parenting are the leading reasons girls give for dropping out of school while Theron and Dunn (2006) argue that, adolescent childbearing is especially disruptive to the educational process of girls and, as a consequence, many teen mothers leave school and never return.Teenage motherhood is a situation in which a girl in her teenage years becomes a mother as a result of getting pregnant (Brady et al., 2012).According to World Health Organization (WHO) (2011) approximately 16 million girls become pregnant annually worldwide and of these about 5.5 million are in sub Saharan Africa (Global giving, 2012;Were, 2007).Among the developed countries, the United States of America (USA) leads in the rates of teenage mothers whereas Japan and South Korea are the least affected (Lowen, 2012), in developing countries sub-Sahara Africa has the highest numbers of teenage mothers (Were, 2007) and in Kenya, approximately, 13000 girls leave school annually due to teenage motherhood (UNDP, 2010).Globally, education is recognized as a basic human right.Article 26 of asserts that, everyone has the right to education and that education should be free, at least in the elementary and fundamental stages of schooling (Human Rights Charter, 1948).Education forms the basis upon which economic, social and political development of any nation is founded and investing in education can help to foster economic growth, enhance productivity, contribute to national and social development and thereby reducing social inequality (World Bank, 2011).There has been a widespread belief among educational economists that educational development would lead to accelerated economic growth, more wealth and income distribution, greater equality of opportunity, availability of skilled human power, a decline in population growth, long life, better health outcomes low crime rates, national unity and political stability (Schultz, 1998).Globally, girls represent the majority of children out of school and face challenges in getting education.In 2006, 75 million children of primary school age were not enrolled in school while in 2007, 101 million were not attending school and most out-of-school primary school-age children (88% ) live in Africa and Asia (UNICEF, 2009).In Sub Saharan Africa however, there are still wide gaps in certain countries with only 16% of girls enrolled in secondary school in Ethiopia compared to 28% of boys (Murphy and Carr, 2007).According to Meena (2001), the governments of the Sub-Saharan countries are making little effort to eliminate the discrepancies in the area of access to secondary education for girls and are denied access to education when they get pregnant or when they become teen mothers.Govender and Steven (2004) argue that, education is the driving force behind any strong economy and a prerequisite for social and economic growth hence it creates opportunities and provides societies with a better educated and skilled workforce which was necessary for stimulating development.The study was guided by social integration model on student retention in schools whose primary purpose was to explain how the interactions among different individuals within the academic, social systems and the communities which comprised them lead individuals of different characteristics to withdraw from that institution prior to completion (Cardona, 2013).

Statement of the problem
Teenage motherhood is a global phenomenon affecting both developed and developing countries and constrains girls and young women from participating in education.Both teenage pregnancy and parenting are the leading reasons girls give for dropping out of school.Adolescent childbearing is especially disruptive to the educational process of girls and, as a consequence, many teenage mothers leave school and never return.The girls who remain in school longer are less likely to become pregnant, because education prepares girls for jobs and livelihoods, raises their self-esteem and their status in their households and communities.Kenya's re-entry policy was part of a wider strategy to improve the education of the girl child and was meant to be a key step towards the attainment of basic education for teenage mothers; however despite the fact that the government's wider strategy to improve the education of the girl child, re-entry policy has not always been a straightforward issue because of the moral stigma associated with teenage motherhood.This study sought to investigate the impact of teenage motherhood on the academic performance in primary schools and further establish the benefits of education to the girl child when given support in schools and homes.emerged as one of the main areas of interventions and debates within global justice arena (Kane, 2004).The development of policy framework and programmes that allow teenage mothers to continue with the education are fairly recent in most cultures.This began out of the realization that teenage pregnancy is one of the inequalities between men and women educational access and outcome (Llyod and Mensch, 2008).Adolescent mothers and their children are both at critical points in their lives, when their life courses can be shaped toward healthy development, stability, and productivity, or toward lifelong poverty and dependency.Efforts to improve outcomes for these young families must take advantage of every opportunity to connect them with the services and support that will help them move toward positive growth (Stephens et al., 2003).Education is central to developing a girl's capabilities, empowering her, promoting awareness and critical thinking, enabling her to claim all other human rights and make more informed decisions (Sen, 1999).When a girl gets the opportunity to learn by accessing and remaining in good quality schooling it has a transformative effect not only on her own life chances and the realization of her human rights, but also on the wider social and economic environment.Educating girls is the key to ensuring improved mother and child health, community development and economic growth and enables them to access better and safer employment (Herz and Sperling, 2004).One extra year of primary school boosts a girl's eventual wages by 10-20% (Psacharaopoulos and Patrinos, 2002) and the impact of this increased earning potential is multiplied because women and girls make good use of the money they earn, reinvesting 90% into their families compared to just 30-40% for men (Fortson, 2003).The economic impact is also felt on a macro-scale as increasing women's education leads to increased national growth for example only a 1% increase in the number of women with secondary education can increase a country's annual per capita income growth by 0.3% (PLAN, 2008).The gap between teenage mothers' aspirations and the support they receive suggests that educators are missing an opportunity to facilitate teenage mothers' school progress and their long-term educational attainment (Battle, 2007).Investment in human capital improves the economic and social opportunities of young people, thereby helping to reduce poverty and foster technical progress however investing in the human capital of women is key to economic growth and social cohesion especially in developing countries where the gender gap in education is still wide and the governments of the Sub-Saharan countries are making little effort to eliminate the discrepancies in the area of access to secondary education for girls where they are denied access to education when they fall pregnant or when they become teen mothers (Barro and Lee, 1994;Schultz, 2002).However, Summers (1994), as well as Odaga and Heneveld (1995)  argue that, educated women enjoy increased economic productivity, including agricultural outputs and earnings, resulting in overall economic benefits to the family.In many developing countries, teenage pregnancy is one of the major impediments to the educational success of girls in Sub-Saharan Africa (Swainson et al., 1998).

Challenges of Teenage Motherhood
According to Eloudou-Enyegue ( 2004), teenage motherhood in developing countries continue sto constrain girls and young women from participating in education.McCauley-Brown (2005) asserts that, those teenage mothers who experience difficulties at school have less motivation to stay in school.Teenage mothers face many challenges in trying to complete their schooling because over and above their academic work, just like their peers, they are mothers first.These challenges may be exacerbated because as teenagers the girls are in a crucial phase of their lives as they are experiencing the integration of their personal identifications, abilities and opportunities available in society (Gouws and Kruger, 1994).According to Chilisa, ( 2002) a pregnant schoolgirl meets with one of three outcomes: expulsion from school, re-entry, and continuation.Each of the three options that face the pregnant schoolgirl has both principled and practical difficulties.The expulsion policy violates the human rights of the girl and robs the country of a possible resource.The expulsion policy has further been specifically criticised as one that is insensitive to the needs of the girls and that it tends to bracket the reasons for teen pregnancy as a girl's problem and fail to look at factors that lead to her getting pregnant before completing her education.The re-entry policy on the other hand has been criticised for being discriminatory; for example, schoolboys who are fathers or fathers to be are not asked to leave school until the child is born.While the continuation policy meets the educational human rights of the girl, it may well be that it overlooks other rights such as those of having support and comfort during the pregnancy and after deliver.Research findings from a situational analysis on girls conducted in Zambia (Kelly, 1998) reveals the links with household income, gender and dropping out and further girls from the poorest households were less likely to attend school in preference for boys.
According to Hunter and May (2003), poverty is a plausible explanation of school disruption for the majority of girls who drop out of school in Zambia.According to Mwansa et al. (2004), the direct and indirect costs charged by schools which include school fees, school uniforms and other PTA levies contribute to girls dropping out.Further Mwansa et al. (2004) found that the failure to raise money to pay for school fees contributed to the majority of the early pregnancies as some of those who failed to raise the high school fees were assisted by elderly men who demanded sex in return.According to UNFPA (2013), girls who remain in school longer are less likely to become pregnant because education prepares girls for jobs and livelihoods, raises their self-esteem and their status in their households and communities, and further gives them more say in decisions that affect their lives.Education also reduces the likelihood of child marriage and delays childbearing, leading to healthier eventual birth outcomes.A Study by the World Health Organization shows that girls who become pregnant at 14 or younger are more likely to experience premature delivery, low infant birth weight, perinatal mortality and health problems in newborns (World Health Organization, 2011).Research shows that in some countries, many girls' first sexual encounters are non-consensual, and the incidence of forced sex is higher among very young adolescents (Erulkar, 2013).The social and economic benefits to a girl who stays in school are great, but so are the costs to a girl who leaves school early or is forced out because of a pregnancy.The causal relationship, however, between adolescent pregnancies and early school-leaving can be difficult to disentangle (UNFPA, 2012).Girls who become pregnant may have already dropped out of school before the pregnancy or were never in school to begin with.One study of francophone African countries showed that only between 5 and 10% of girls leave school or are expelled because of pregnancy (Lloyd and Mensch, 2008).According to Meena (2001) the governments of the sub-Saharan countries are making little effort to eliminate the discrepancies in the area of access to secondary education for girls and are denied access to education when they fall pregnant or when they become teenage mothers.Wolpe et al (1997) state that, there are some schools that do not allow pregnant girls and young mothers to attend classes.In some cases where teenage mothers continue schooling, they are often "described and assumed to be poor or incapable students" (Pillow, 2004).In addition, Shultz (2001) asserts that, too often, pregnancy during high school is a signal for school personnel and families to abandon young women, designating them as school failures hence educators and parents often give up on them.

Supporting teenage mothers towards education attainments
According to Breheny and Stephens (2007), motherhood is a challenge requiring support and community involvement regardless of the mother's age and socioeconomic position and further proposes that different social structures could be used to support motherhood occurring at any point in the life course so that motherhood could be successfully combined with education and employment in any order.According to Stephens et al. (1999); Kunio and Sono (1996) and Mogotlane (1993) teenage mothers and their children are two particularly vulnerable groups in our society whose long term life chances are interconnected and may be shaped towards healthy development, stability and productivity or towards poverty and dependency; however without support for teenage mothers to complete their education, many would struggle with poverty and its effects.Kaufman (2001) asserts that, both pregnancy and parenting are the leading reasons girls give for dropping out of school while Theron and Dunn (2006) assert that, adolescent childbearing is especially disruptive to the educational process of girls and, as a consequence, many teenage mothers leave school and never return.Teenage mothers face an overwhelming number of difficulties.Parental and peer pressures are far more common than support and understanding.Mature, adult decisions are required of emotionally pressured adolescents.Managing to care for an infant and devoting adequate time to school work is a great challenge for these parenting teens (Arlington Public School, 2004).Studies have shown that in most cases the birth of a baby marks the end of schooling for the teen mothers (Grant and Hallman, 2006).There are factors that influence whether or not a teenage mother is able to continue schooling after the birth of the baby.Most of the factors depend on the girls' ability to manage logistics and finances associated with mothering and schooling simultaneously (Kaufman 2001).While pregnancy and teenage mothering are major causes of secondary school drop out for girls, social, economic and cultural issues also make girls' school attendance a complex decision for the girls' parents.Some parents may not send girls to school because they consider the benefits of education for girls to be limited and the cost of sending them to school to be unnecessary for the family (Swainson et al 1998;Lloyd and Mensch, 1999).Pearton (1999) argues that, adolescents are mostly too young and emotionally immature when they first fall pregnant.Therefore, if these girls are to succeed academically it is important to provide adequate support.McCullough (1998) reports that, teenage mothers are less likely to finish high school, attend college, find stable employment, marry, or be self-supporting than those who have children later and are faced with the challenge of providing for their own children when they are barely out of childhood themselves.In fact, two-thirds of the children of teenage mothers live in poverty (Trad, 1999).Because of their lack of maturity and development, teenage mothers often lack proper parenting skills to provide proper nurturing and support for their children (March of Dimes, 2002).The National Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy (2000) reports that, sons of teenage mothers are 13% more likely to end up in prison while teen daughters are 22% more likely to become teen moms themselves.
Much of the risk for emotional, developmental and cognitive problems can be directly associated to abuse or neglect, simply as a result of a teenager's uncertainty about the care of their child (American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 2000).

Extracts on the re-entry policy guidelines as passed in 1994 in Kenya
The Re-entry policy Guidelines as passed in 1994 states that Girls who become pregnant be admitted back to school unconditionally.Further Head teachers, District and Municipal Education Officers should readmit and assist such girls to join other schools to avoid psychological and emotional suffering and provide Intensive guidance and counseling to the affected girl, parents, teachers and other girls in school.The guidelines on the other hand state that once a girl is sent home, the parents to be summoned to the school and receive some counseling after which they should take their daughter home.Head teachers and other teachers should be understanding and patient while handling cases of this nature.The school should also keep in touch with such girls and their parents so as to monitor what is happening and provide the necessary moral, emotional and spiritual support.Counseling for both the girl and the parents not be discontinued.The parents should seek readmission of their daughter to school after the baby is weaned and the head teachers should provide the necessary help in this regard further in case of any problem, the Provincial, District and Municipal Education officers to assist.Reentry policy stipulates that, other girls in the school to be counseled on consequences of irresponsible sexual behaviour, adolescent sexuality, boy/ girl relationships, negative peer influences, building self-confidence and self-esteem.However those who make girls pregnant should be exposed.For example, teachers and other adults in the community should face legal action.Boys should be given counseling so that they can take responsibility for their actions (Source: MOE, 1998).

METHODS AND PROCEDURES
The study adopted both quantitative and qualitative techniques; quantitative relies on the principle of verifiability and the researcher wants to obtain a large body of data or to perform statistical analysis in order to produce results that can be generalized to the target population; qualitative involves systematic collection, analysis and interpretation of data in order to provide description on selected issues.The study was conducted in Kopsiro Division, Chepyuk Ward, Chepkurkur sub location in Mt Elgon constituency in Bungoma County.The study targeted head teachers and teenage mothers in public primary schools in the Chepkurkur sub location.The semi structured questionnaires were administered to teenage mothers while closed ended interviews were administered to head teachers.These people were deemed to have adequate understanding of teenage pregnancy in the division.The study employed stratified sampling, simple random sampling and purposive  sampling.Stratified sampling was used to select teenage mothers from classes six, seven and eight and since each member of the population had an equal and independent chance of being selected, simple random sampling technique was used to select the representative sample.Purposive sampling technique was also used since the researcher targeted a group of people believed to be reliable and would provide information with respect to the objectives of the study.The teenage mothers who had returned to school after giving birth to their babies were the main respondents and in order to identify teenage mothers in the school, the head teachers of the randomly selected schools were contacted to assist the researcher to identify them in the school.A sample of 35 teenage mothers and 3 head teachers were sampled for the study.Data collected using questionnaires was processed, coded and analyzed using descriptive statistical analysis to facilitate answering of the research questions.Data collected using closed ended interviews were transcribed and arranged thematically in order to answer the research questions.The descriptive analysis was summarized using frequencies, percentages and cross-tabulations.

Teenage motherhood and educational attainment
The researcher wanted to establish whether teenage motherhood leads to low educational attainment or not and it was found out that, 68.6% strongly agreed while 20% agreed with the statement.The head teachers interviewed also acknowledged that indeed teenage motherhood leads to low educational attainment (Figure 1).

Educating teenage mother would yield higher returns to her, her family and the society
The researcher wanted to establish whether educating teenage mother would yield a higher return to herself, her family and the society at large.45.7% strongly agreed and agreed respectfully.Head teachers interviewed concerning the above statement strongly agreed that educating teenage mother would yield a higher return to herself, her family and the society at large (Figure 2).

Education prepares girls for jobs, livelihoods, and raises their self-esteem
The researcher wanted to establish whether education prepares girls for jobs, livelihoods, and raises their selfesteem or not.82.9% strongly agreed while 17.1% agreed with the statement.Head teachers supported the view that education prepares girls for jobs, livelihoods, and raises their self-esteem (Figure 3).

Education would reduce women's illiteracy levels
The researcher wanted to establish whether education  would reduce women's illiteracy levels or not.51.4% strongly agreed while 22.9% agreed with the statement.
The head teachers interviewed on whether education reduces women's illiteracy levels supported the statement indeed education is an equalizer in life (Figure 4).

Education achievement depends on how parents respond to the pregnancy and mothering of teenagers
The researcher wanted to establish whether education achievement depends on how parents respond to the pregnancy and mothering of teenagers or not.40.0%strongly agreed while 28.6% agreed with the statement.Head teachers acknowledged that education achievements depended on how parents respond to the pregnancy and mothering of teenagers and that supporting teenage mothers will help them achieve their education endeavours (Figure 5).

Teenage motherhood leads to poor academic performance
The researcher wanted to establish whether teenage motherhood leads to poor academic performance or not.54.3% strongly agreed with the statement.The head teachers interviewed were of the view that teenage mothers missed school frequently and this eventually affects their academic performance (Figure 6).

DISCUSSION
From the study, most of the teenage mothers were at 13-14 (54.3 %) class and mostly in class eight (71.4%), and had been in their school for over 6years.The study adopted Tinto model (as cited in Cardona, 2013) on student retention in schools whose primary purpose was to explain how the interactions among different individuals within the academic, social systems and the communities lead individuals of different characteristics to withdraw from their institution prior to completion.Studies reveal that teenage motherhood leads to low educational attainment and this is supported by Kaufman (2001) that, both pregnancy and parenting are the leading reasons girls give for dropping out of school.This is echoed by Theron and Dunn (2006) that, teenage motherhood is especially disruptive to the educational process of girls and, as a consequence, many teenage mothers leave school and never return.Educating teenage mother would yield a higher returns to herself, her family and the society at large.This statement is supported by Herz and Sperling, (2004) that indeed, educating girls is the key to ensuring improved mother and child health, community development and economic growth and enables them to access better and safer employment.Education achievement depended on how parents responded to the pregnancy and mothering of teenagers and this was echoed by Battle (2007) that, the gap between teenage mothers' aspirations and the support they receive suggests that educators are missing an opportunity to facilitate teenage mothers' school progress and their long-term educational attainment.Education would reduce women's illiteracy levels and this is supported by Fergusson and Woodward (2000) that, the impact of teenage pregnancy on young women's educational achievement is driven by the timing of the pregnancy and the manner in which the young woman and her family respond to the pregnancy.Head teachers interviewed about teenage mothers in schools were of the opinion that, they should not be re -admitted to school because they were a bad example to other girls in the school.Wolpe et al. (1997) argue that, there were some schools that do not allow pregnant girls and young mothers to attend classes.In some cases where teenage mothers continue schooling, they are often "described and assumed to be poor or incapable students" (Pillow, 2004).Teenage motherhood leads to poor academic performance; this is supported by McCullough (1998)'s reports that adolescent parents are less likely to finish high school, attend college, find stable employment, marry, or be self-supporting than those who have children later and are faced with the challenge of providing for their own children when they are barely out of childhood themselves.According to Morrell et al. (2012), school support is a crucial factor in determining whether a teenage mother is able to continue her education.The willingness of school principals to accommodate and support teenage mothers is a primary consideration for support.
According to Lamb and Rice (2008), effective strategies to increase school completion rate of teenage mothers were characterized by strong leadership, a clear focus on achievement, supportive and positive school culture or climate, including supportive relationships among students and teachers.Further good communications with parents, guidance and counselling and targeted programs that address the needs of different groups of teenage mothers from disadvantaged backgrounds was very important.Supporting teenage mothers in academically challenging work may be the step that will help them gain the education and skills they need to build a successful future for themselves and their children (Zachry, 2005).Teenage mothers who return to school after the birth of their children, experience intimidation and marginalization and lack of support from educators (Chigona and Chetty, 2008).According to Smith-Battle (2011), there is a lack of consistent support for teenage mothers from their families.The fact that teenage mothers have to jump lessons in order to look after her baby is of less concern to her parents because she has a baby while still very young and has to face the consequences.Teenage mothers who experience difficulty with the nurturing role of mother hood may depend highly on an older and significant caregiver to guide them in parenting (Paschal et al., 2011).According to Chigona and Chetty (2007), only allowing teenage mothers back to school does not help them succeed in their secondary education but there is a need to prepare teenage mothers for schooling and mothering before they return to school.As teenage mothers, they are expected to be mother and student simultaneously which is further supported by Theron and Dunn (2006) and Nathanson (1990) that, this was a big responsibility for a teenager who is still developing psychologically.In the same vein, Pearton (1999) argues that, adolescents are mostly too young and emotionally immature when they first get pregnant hence if these girls are to succeed academically it is important to provide adequate support.Breheny and Stephens (2007) affirmed that, motherhood is a challenge requiring support and community involvement regardless of the mother's age and socio-economic position and further proposes that different social structures could be used to support motherhood occurring at any point in the life course so that motherhood could be successfully combined with education and employment in any order.According to Wheal, (2005) and Chase et al. (2006), holistic and ongoing programs of parent support should be available to assist care leavers who become teenage mothers.They will need help with both emotional and practical issues, including finances to purchase clothes and equipment for a new baby, pre-natal classes, birth information, parenting skills, housing, social inclusion, advice on breastfeeding, and access to formal or informal support networks.

CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS
Teenage pregnancy and motherhood is one of the major impediment to the educational success of girls in sub Saharan Africa; however from the study, education prepares girls for jobs, livelihoods, and raises their selfesteem and further educating them would yield higher returns to her, her family and the society at large.The study recommended that by supporting teenage mothers would help them achieve their goals in education.

Figure 1 .
Figure 1.Teenage motherhood leads to low educational attainment.

Figure 2 .
Figure 2. Educating teenage mother would yield higher returns to her, her family and the society.

Figure 3 .
Figure 3. Education prepares girls for jobs, livelihoods, and raises their self-esteem.

Figure 5 .
Figure 5. Education achievement depends on how parents respond to the pregnancy and mothering of teenagers.

Figure 6 .
Figure 6.Teenage motherhood leads to poor academic performance.