Study on Innovative Practices to Promote Girls’ Retention and Transition to Secondary and Higher Learning Institutions in Sub-Saharan Africa.
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Date
2024
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Kabale University
Abstract
This report presents the study's findings on “Innovative Practices to Promote Girls’ Retention and Transition to Secondary and Higher Learning Institutions in Uganda.” Despite efforts to expand access to girl child education through the UPE and USE programs, retention and transition of girls through primary and secondary education have been low. This has been due to the high dropout rates, particularly among girls. At the national level, the dropout rates are higher in the primary than in secondary education, leading to the failure to achieve equity and equality in education between boys and girls. This situation calls for actions to promote the reentry of girls who previously dropped out of school and ensure their retention and transition from primary to secondary
education.
The study's main objective is to identify innovative practices for promoting the reentry, retention, and transition of girls through the primary to secondary levels of education and to highlight the barriers to the reentry, retention, and transition of girls who previously dropped out of school. The specific objectives of the study are to:
1. Assess the status of girls' retention and transition at primary and secondary levels of education;
2. Determine factors that exacerbate the dropout of girls in primary and secondary school education;
3. Establish the adoption and status of implementation of school reentry policy and/or guidelines; and
4. Identify innovative and promising practices that promote school reentry and retention for girls at primary and secondary schools.
The study was conducted in the West Nile, Northern, and Eastern Uganda in the districts of Yumbe, Adjumani, Amuru, Bugweri, Dokolo, Manafwa, Pader, Lira City, Kamuli, and Tororo. Collectively, the population of these districts was estimated at 2,150,000 million people in 2021. The socioeconomic indicators of the study population show that the population in these districts is multidimensionally poor with rates ranging from 41.5% in Busoga, 57% in Lango, 63.7% in Acholi, and 59.1% in West Nile. The economy of the study regions is predominantly agricultural with the majority of the population depending on subsistence farming, living in rural areas, and currently, the poorest in all aspects of development in Uganda.
The study used a cross-sectional research design and collected both primary and secondary data. The primary data was collected by using 7 tools containing both quantitative and qualitative data. The structured questionnaire, in-depth interviews, and Focus Group Discussions (FGDs) were used to collect the data. An extensive literature review was also conducted to acquire some of the data that was used in the study. The target population for the study included teenage girls who previously dropped out of school due to pregnancy and motherhood, parents/guardians to pregnant or teenage mothers, learners in schools, school administrators and health facilities serving the school communities and selected schools involved in the study and key education sector stakeholders in the selected districts. The main findings of the study
a. From the perspectives of teenage mothers, learners, school administrators, parents/guardians, and key community leaders, teenage pregnancy is a major concern in the study districts. Over 70% of participants reported that teenage pregnancy is a major problem that must be fought head-on. The majority of teenage pregnancies take place in primary schools at the ages of 15-17 years and in Grades 5-7. Yumbe, Kamuli, Manafwa and Adjumani districts were leading other districts in the study on the prevalence of teenage pregnancy among learners.
b. All learners who became pregnant dropped out of school. Of the pregnant teenagers, the majority were married by the time of the study. About 55% and 45% of the pregnant learners were married and single respectively.
c. The main causes of teenage pregnancy among learners were identified to be poverty in households that leads to failures of families to pay school fees and provide for the needs of girls, lack of guidance on sexuality by parents and schools, negative peer influence, and defilement mostly perpetrated by older adult men.
d. Perpetrators of teenage pregnancy include male peers of similar age or slightly older, adult men including Businessmen, Boda Boda taxi riders, and teachers who exploit the vulnerability of girls. Incest with relatives was also blamed for teenage learner pregnancy.
e. Dropping out of school temporarily or permanently is the most common short-term impact of teenage pregnancy. Teenage mothers who return to school are often required to repeat classes and perform poorly at school due to childcare challenges and socioeconomic hardships.
f. At the national level, there is a positive trend in the enrolment of both girls and boys in primary and secondary education, and parity between boys and girls in each year of enrolment has been achieved.
i. However, primary education completion rates stagnated and declined in the period for which national data is available (2013-2017).
ii. The transition rate from primary to secondary declined from 72% in 2013 to about 60% in 2017. There were no differences between boys and girls in the transition from primary to secondary education.
g. The results from study districts revealed that the number of learners transitioning from P1 through completion at P7 for both boys and girls in rural and urban schools declined monotonically. The intergrade transition rate and primary 7 completion rate were lower for girls than for boys, confirming that fewer girls than boys complete P7 and transition to
secondary education.
h. The study found that 428 girls became pregnant while studying. Of these, only 39.3% returned to school. The age, level of education, and grade at pregnancy affected the likelihood of school reentry. Only 14.8% of teenage mothers under the age of 15 years returned to school, compared to 42.3% and 42.1% of teenage mothers who become 3 pregnant at the age of 15-17 years and 18 years or older respectively. Lack of fees, being married, fear of stigmatization by peers and teachers in schools, and low perception of self-worth and low esteem are some of the main barriers to school reentry.
i. The study's findings show that of the 104 teenage mothers who returned to school, about 53% transitioned to secondary education. Another 13.5% joined alternative education pathways. The proportion of learners transitioning from primary to secondary education decreased with age and grade at pregnancy.
Adoption and Implementation of Guidelines for Reentry and Retention In 2020, the MoE&S passed and rolled out guidelines for the management of teenage pregnancy and reentry and management of adolescent mothers in school settings. The study found that these guidelines are being implemented at various levels in several schools. These guidelines include:
a. Girls are required to come with a medical report while reporting back to school. They are also periodically tested for pregnancy during school terms.
b. Parents of girls, found pregnant are summoned to school to appropriately evacuate them home and plan for the way forward.
c. School send girls home as soon as they are discovered pregnant and pregnant learners and their parents are counseled on the type of support and care the girls need during pregnancy.
d. Teenage girls in candidate classes who become pregnant are allowed to come to school and sit their final examinations.
e. Some perpetrators of teenage pregnancy in school settings have been prosecuted. However, more needs to be done by putting in place deterrent measures to stop the vice.
f. Schools are allowing teenage mothers to return to school and some allow them to come to school with their babies as long as a childcare provider is present. However, no facilities have been provided for child care.
g. Schools having teenage mothers have instated mechanisms to protect them from stigma and discrimination by other learners and teachers.
h. Counseling of learners on sexuality is provided to learners by female and male teachers. Schools are disseminating information about teenage pregnancy, its impacts, and ways of protecting teenage girls against it.
i. Learners are provided regular briefs during assemblies on negative peer pressure and are also provided life skills to engage in responsible relationships in the community of learners.
j. Schools have teenage mothers with NGOs/CBOs for support for both reentry and retention in school as well as childcare support.
k. NGOs/CBOs in the education sector are conducting parents and community sensitization on the importance and benefits of keeping girls in school as well as reentry of girls who dropped out of school including those due to teenage pregnancy and motherhood.
l. NGOs/CBOs are implementing alternative education pathways such as the ASEP and skills-based education for school dropouts including those due to teenage pregnancy and motherhood.
Innovative and Promising Interventions
The study identified the following interventions for reentry, retention, and transition from primary to secondary education:
a. Provision of childcare facilities in schools: Providing childcare facilities in schools could be
a promising intervention for teenage mothers to reenter, remain in school, and complete primary and secondary education.
b. Providing alternative learning environments: Enrolling teenage mothers in a different school could protect them from stigmatization by peers and teachers.
c. Providing alternative learning pathways: Alternative education pathways intended to build the knowledge and skills of teenage mothers to be able to navigate socioeconomic conditions as they grow into adulthood, should be promoted.
d. Introduction of Sexual and Reproductive Health Services and Commodities (SRHS&C):
These services and commodities could prevent pregnancy and repeat pregnancies among sexually active girls and teenage mothers respectively.
e. Counseling services for pregnant and teenage mothers: Counseling has the potential to address not only stigmatizing attitudes by teachers and fellow learners but also issues of self-esteem and self-worth among teenage mothers.
f. Support for teenage mothers to reenter and remain at school: Government and other education stakeholders' support in providing conditional cash transfers for teenage mothers to meet school and personal needs and childcare has promise for the reentry and retention of teenage mothers in school.
g. Introduce courses that teach life skills to learners in primary schools: This will enable learners to understand and manage the physiological, psychological, and emotional changes girls experience as they transition through the turbulent years of adolescence.
Description
Keywords
Innovative Practices, Promote, Girls, Retention, Transition, Secondary, Higher Learning Institutions, Sub-Saharan Africa
Citation
Ayiga, N., Adyanga, F. A., Akello, J. (2024). Study on Innovative Practices to Promote Girls’ Retention and Transition to Secondary and Higher Learning Institutions in Sub-Saharan Africa. Kabale: Kabale University.