dc.description.abstract |
In an attempt to safeguard the education of the girl child, the government of Kenya
through the Ministry of Education (MoE) introduced the re-entry policy (which was
later changed to re-admission policy) that was established in 1994. The policy stipulates
that pregnant girls should go back to school and complete their education after giving
birth. However, from the literature surrounding the policy implementation, that has not
always been the case. The policy in paper has been poorly implemented especially in
the slum areas. This study, therefore, sought to explore the policy implementation in
Langas slum in Eldoret. The following objectives guided the study: to investigate the
support mechanisms put in place by the school principals to ensure that the adolescent
mothers fit comfortably in the school environment once they are re-admitted, to explore
adolescent mothers experiences regarding re-admission and the re-admission policy
and finally to seek ways in which the re-admission policy and its implementation can
be improved in order to benefit the adolescent mothers. This study was guided by the
top-down system theory on policy implementation. It is anchored on the
phenomenological design which is based on the qualitative approach. Data was
collected using in-depth interviews and drawings. Trustworthiness was achieved
through; dependability, transferability, confirmabilty and credibility. Five secondary
school principals were sampled purposively while ten adolescent mothers were sampled
using snowball sampling technique. Data was analyzed thematically using the
interpretivist lens. The findings revealed that there is inadequate support mechanisms
put in place to support adolescent mothers such as inadequate personnel for guidance
and counselling and lack of in-service training for guidance and counselling teachers,
lack of financial support from the government. It also revealed that adolescent mothers
face a myriad of experiences chief being stigma and discrimination from teachers and
students and financial constraints. It further established the various ways in which the
re-admission policy and its implementation can be improved in order to benefit the
adolescent mothers better. This study concluded that the implementation of the re-
admission policy was still a challenge in the urban slum context. The main
recommendations arising from the study include: capacity building for secondary
school principals by the ministry of education, the government should employ teachers
who are strictly in-charge of guidance and counselling, training of teachers in charge of
guidance and counselling by the MoE, financial assistance for adolescent mothers,
introduction of school policies that favour adolescent mothers and sensitization of the
re-admission policy for adolescent mothers in schools and in the communities. |
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