Re-joining Formal Schooling After a Postpartum Hiatus: Experiences of Teenage Mothers of Zanzibar

Authors

Elliott P. Niboye, University of Dar es Salaam, TanzaniaFollow

Abstract

The lack of nuanced understanding of how teens undertake their triple roles as mothers, parents and student is prevalent in Tanzania. This article highlights the plight of teenage mothers who are readmitted back to formal schooling in Zanzibar. Four objectives guided this study. The first was to determine the age at which most teenage girls fall pregnant,; second, how long do teen mothers take to return to school after delivery; third, the challenges that teenage mothers encounters when they re-join schooling; and lastly, the coping strategies used by teen mothers to overcome challenges encountered after re joining school. Public rapid appraisal methods were used to collect data. Secondary information was sourced from various grey literatures. The major findings reveals that the age at which most teenage girls are more likely to become pregnant was between fifteen to seventeen years. On average, most teenage mothers returned to formal schooling in less than three months after delivery. Those with inadequate support to care for their babies, and are not in conjugal relationship, take long to get back to formal schooling; and in extreme cases they fail to resume studies. All teenage mothers experience individual and institutional challenges upon returning to school. Unmarried teenage mothers suffer more compared to those who are married. In coping with individual challenges, most teenage mothers seek help from diverse sources. Having the requisite law notwithstanding, a clear implementation strategy is found wanting to ensure that all pregnant teenage girls are supported and encouraged to return to school after delivery, and to further institute an effective monitoring and evaluation system to ensure that educational and other rights of teenage mothers are met.

Recommended Citation

P. Niboye, Elliott (2022) "Re-joining Formal Schooling After a Postpartum Hiatus: Experiences of Teenage Mothers of Zanzibar," Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences: Vol. 10 : No. 6 , Article 1.
Available at: https://doi.org/10.56279/jhss.v10.i6.0

Publication Date

3-10-2022

DOI

10.56279/jhss.v10.i6.0

Publisher

Dar es Salaam University College of Education (DUCE)