Stakeholders’ perceptions on teen mothers’ re-entry policy and practices in secondary schools in Malongo sub-county, Mayuge district, Uganda

Abstract

Teen mothers’ re-entry policies are aimed at supporting teenage mothers to access and be retained in mainstream secondary schools to completion level. However, the practice in schools remains wanting since it is characterised by suspension, expulsion, or re-entry in other schools. This study sought to explore stakeholders’ perceptions of teen mothers’ re-entry policy and practices in secondary schools in Malongo, Sub-County, Mayuge District and find out intervention strategies to enhance re-entry. The research objectives were to: find out Ministry of Education and Sports officials’ perceptions on re-admission policy and practice; find out the headteachers and teachers’ perceptions on re-admission policy and practice; find out teen mothers’ perceptions on re-admission policy and practice and identify intervention strategies that can be adopted to enhance re-admission of teen mothers in secondary schools. The guiding theory for this study was Urie Bronfenbrenner’s Ecological system theory. The study applied an interpretivist approach using the phenomenological research design as this enabled the researcher to explore the experiences and attitudes of stakeholders on teen mothers’ re-entry policy and practices. The target population included teen mothers, teachers in charge of girl child affairs, head teachers and Education officials. Data was generated by conducting thorough interviews and drawings for teen mothers. Purposive sampling and snow ball sampling techniques were used to select key informants. Data analysis was done using thematic analysis. The study revealed a slight positive change in the attitudes of stakeholders and some degree of awareness regarding retention and re-entry in secondary schools. This can be a foundation on which policy makers can ably rely on to enhance re-entry mechanisms and strategies. These are somewhat sure ways of bridging the gap between the policy and practices while a disconnect in the systems and structures would sabotage the efforts to enhance retention and re-entry. The study identified strategic interventions that can be adopted to enhance teen mothers’ re-entry in schools to uphold the rights of a girl child to education as accorded by SDG 4.