5.2 The effects of teenage pregnancy on educational opportunities for teenage girls.
It was revealed from the study that most of the teenage mothers had dropped out of school. From table 2 (page 7) about
86% of the respondents indicated that they had dropped out of school. School dropout is seen as a cause as well as a
consequence of teenage pregnancy. It was clear from the study that some of the respondents dropped out of school due
to the pregnancy while others became pregnant because they dropped out of school. These findings are consistent with
the theory underpinning this study. Thus most pregnant girls drop out of school to deliver and after delivery feel shy and
do not return to school thereby serving as a baseline for other girls with similar problems to imitate. These findings are
also consistent with Muganda-Onyando & Omondi’s (2008) assertion that pregnancy acts as a catalyst to school dropout
in poor families. O’Connor (1999) re-echoed tis by stating th
at academically- oriented females are less likely to give birth
while still in high school.
Again, the study revealed that teenage pregnancy reduces the study hours of the respondents. From table 3 (page
8) it was clear that before the pregnancy, the respondents coul
d study averagely for three (3)
to four (4) but this reduced
to an average of one (1) to two (2) hours. These findings support Mohase’s (2006) findings that issues of pregnancy
affect the level of concentration of pregnant women.