Project – The effect of teenage pregnancy on female students’ academic achievement in secondary schools

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1    Background of the Study

Teenage pregnancy is a public health challenge in both developed and developing countries. According to global records, nearly 21 million teenage girls become pregnant each year, 10 million of them unintentionally (WHO 2018). SubSaharan Africa accounts for 95% of the world’s adolescent population. Nigeria is one of the countries with the highest incidence of teenage pregnancy in sub-Saharan Africa and West Africa (Lancet 2013). According to the “Nigeria Demographic Health Survey in 2018” by the Nigerian Population Commission (2018), an estimated 45% of girls aged 15 years–19 years are sexually active and 23% of this group already has a child. In addition, 1.3 million adolescent girls in Nigeria drop out of school every year. A significant 7.3 million girls are excluded from access to education in Nigeria each year.

Ajefa & Shitu (2013) asserted that some of the causes of teenage pregnancies in Nigeria are limited access to sexual health services, low knowledge of contraceptives and their use, unequal distribution of health infrastructure and services, and inadequate knowledge about sexual and reproductive health Teenage pregnancies are considered a leading cause of maternal and child deaths, school dropout, unemployment, and poverty among teenage mothers worldwide (WHO 2018). Studies have linked neighborhood poverty, negative peer influence, weak parental control and relationships, lack of sexual health knowledge and risky sexual practices to causes of unwanted pregnancies.

Brahmbhatt et al (2014) found that living in a poor residential environment, where access to basic amenities was a luxury, encouraged negative peer influence leading to early sexual debut among respondents. Socioeconomic status was identified as an indicator of poverty in the neighborhood. This makes teenage girls vulnerable to early social independence and may promote negative peer pressure. The lack of sexual health facilities and recreational activities or community tasks to engage teenagers in the environment also exacerbates the consequences of risky sexual behavior and increases the risk of unwanted pregnancies. Like all other adolescents, pregnant female students face the same challenges as other students because they are students one the one hand and expectant mothers on the other hand. Unfortunately, pregnant female students are treated with hostility, stigma, and ridicule by both teachers and their peers, which reduce their motivation to learn.

Teenage pregnancy refers to the pregnancy occurring in the young girls between the age of thirteen and nineteen years. Teenage pregnancy can also be defined as social problem in which adult practices and functions that is sexual intercourse, reproduction, and mothering are actually displayed by a person who owing to her age as well as development status is not yet an adult which in this case is adult but not adult, child but not child.

Teenage pregnancy is prevalent nowadays in most secondary schools’ students in the developing countries across the world. This has been very of great negative impact towards realization of young girls’ dreams bearing in mind that most of the young girls after pregnancy find it difficult to go back to school (Kauffman, 2016). Macleod (2014) argues that one major contemporary problem confronting most countries in the world is teenage pregnancy. This is right from the first world countries such as United States of America (USA) to the third world countries such as Kenya where this problem has actually been a source of worry for the policy makers, the so called social workers as well as other human service providers due to its negative impact on the girl child across the world. Africa has been greatly hit by this problem. Nigeria specifically has recorded many incidences of young female (age 14-19) pregnancy over the years.

Academic performance as the outcome of education, simply meaning the extent to which a student, teacher or institution has achieved their educational goal. In educational institutions, success is measured by academic performance or how well a student meets standards set by the institution. Sophie et al (2011) stated that “students with higher mental ability as demonstrated by IQ tests tends to achieve highly in academic settings” thus, academic performance is how students deal with their studies and how they cope with or accomplish different tasks given to them by their teachers

Teenage pregnancies among secondary school students increase the likelihood of school dropout among this target group. It is likely that the lack of adequate social and environmental support for pregnant teens may negatively affect their academic success. Undoubtedly, getting pregnant as a teenager is difficult; therefore, the combination of pregnancy and school and lack of support can exacerbate the experience and discourage female teens from continuing their education. And because the United Nations considers education a basic human right, the lack of support for academic achievement or improvement can be seen as a violation of that right. In addition, young girls and the female population continue to be denied their rights to social and economic prospects due to teenage pregnancies. This has consistently exposed women to the dangers of domestic violence, lack of sexual autonomy, child marriage, unemployment, and poverty (Osili 2018).

In Nigeria, teen pregnancy-related school drop-out rates continue to increase the illiteracy rate of women. Despite the enormous resources devoted to preventing teen pregnancy, more females become pregnant each year. Which begs the question, “Should teenage pregnancy continue to deny females their fundamental right to education? “ Notwithstanding, if the causes of this pregnancy are not addressed, it may be more difficult for them to achieve academic success. This supports the need to investigate factors that may affect the academic performance of pregnant adolescent students. These students can be motivated to pursue academic success by exerting effort in this area. Furthermore, this can improve the social and economic prospects of adolescent mothers and their children. Considering this, research has identified several variables, including peer attachment and sexual attitudes, as predictors of academic progress among expectant adolescents. Girls experience rapid physical, cognitive, and psychological development during their adolescent years (Goossens 2015). These abrupt changes frequently impair their capacity for reasoning, feeling, interacting, and making decisions. This makes them more likely to engage in sexual activity or seek external validation from peers. The trajectory of their peer associations can be a major determinant of how they respond to sexual health issues and their academic engagement. Current studies examining the effects of adolescent sexual activity on educational outcomes primarily argue that early romantic relationships are time-consuming and may impose significant emotional costs on adolescents, particularly if they are female.

Evidence from studies suggests that, sexually active adolescents’ girls are significantly less likely to invest in their own education. Early sexual debut among adolescents in secondary school is considered a predictor of academic achievement. Frisco (2018), believes that early sexual debut can influence dropping out of the academic year or even hinder advancement to earn a diploma following post-secondary education. The author linked unsafe sexual activity such as the lack of contraceptive measures at first sexual debut and teenage motherhood status to this claim. Consistently Ventrina (2021), also buttressed that sexual heterosexual engagement and non-use of contraceptive equally among adolescent students significantly predicted academic performance. According to Ventrina, sexual active students struggled to balance sexual engagement with academic concentration, and this affected their commitments towards their academics. In addition, Kumar confirmed that adolescent students with average academic performance did not engage in any form of sexual activity, while students with poor academic performance engaged in sexual activity. This suggests importance of sexual attitude on academic performance.

Sexual attitude especially in case of sexual engagement and non-use of contraceptives can predispose teenagers to academic risks by reducing their motivation to learn, as well as their feeling of connectedness to academic performance. According to the United Nations Population Fund (2015) cited in Eugene (2018), rural teenage girls are at a higher risk of getting pregnant than their urban counterparts and this is attributed to the fact that rural teenage girls only have primary-level education, while girls in urban areas are better educated. Apart from the academic factor, the report also said some girls do not know how to avoid falling pregnant, while others feel shy or are ashamed to access contraceptives. The use of contraceptives among young people aged between 15 and 19 is 24% in rural areas, compared to a national contraceptive prevalence rate of 50%.  However, sexual activity among the secondary school female students can be compounded by poverty, peer pressure or lack of education.

The persistent occurrence of the incidence of young female pregnancy commonly in secondary schools has led into occurrence of sensitization programs in secondary schools to be organized for the purpose of giving the solution to this problem a push to reduce on the number of teenage pregnancies occurring on yearly basis. In this case, teenage pregnancy and school attendance they actual fail to go well together in that the latter has a detrimental effect on their education and their plans in future in school. The reason for this is because teenage mothers attend class lessons irregularly while at times they drop out of the school due to parenting role (Patton, 2012). Evidence from studies suggests that, sexually active adolescents’ girls are significantly less likely to invest in their own education. According to Ventrina (2021), sexual active students struggled to balance sexual engagement with academic concentration, and this affected their commitments towards their academics. In addition, Kumar confirmed that adolescent students with average academic performance did not engage in any form of sexual activity, while students with poor academic performance engaged in sexual activity. This suggests importance of sexual attitude on academic performance. Sexual attitude especially in case of sexual engagement and non-use of contraceptives can predispose teenagers to academic risks by reducing their motivation to learn, as well as their feeling of connectedness to academic performance.

1.2    Statement of the Problem

Early sexual engagement debut among adolescents in secondary school is considered a predictor of academic achievement. Frisco (2021), believes that early sexual debut can influence dropping out of the academic year or even hinder advancement to earn a diploma following post-secondary education. The author linked unsafe sexual activity such as the lack of contraceptive measures at first sexual debut and teenage motherhood status to this claim. Consequently, Ventrina (2021) also buttressed that sexual heterosexual engagement and non-use of contraceptive equally among adolescent students significantly predicted academic performance.

It has been observed that teenage pregnancy has remained persistent in our local communities due to various contributing factors and has had negative impacts on the life of the teenagers involved. Panday et al. (2019) affirm that teenage mothers are unlikely to complete high school education (i.e. secondary school education). The non-completion of a secondary school education limit the life earning potentials among the teenage population, which could perpetuate the cycle of impoverishment among them. Teenage pregnancy is one of the social ills that affect society. The existence of teenage pregnancy significantly affects the development of the girl-child. This is attributable to the girls’ absence of any consistent means of support to care for the children and themselves when they should have been in school. It is alleged that teenage pregnancy and its associated motherhood are characterized with shame, disgrace, and school dropout and sometimes end of the individual’s dream of achieving higher pursuits.

According to the adolescent pregnancy report given by Sully et al (2020) as of 2019, adolescents aged 15-19 years in low-income and middle-income countries had an estimated 21 million pregnancies each year of which approximately 50% were unintended pregnancies and which resulted in an estimated 12 million births. They stated further that 55% of the unintended pregnancies among adolescent girls aged 15-19 years end in abortions, which are often unsafe in low and middle income countries. Karra and lee, (2012), posit that pregnancy is a period  women undergo several hormonal changes accomplished by discomfort, distraction and physiological transformation which may interfere with her studies in conjunction with her responsibilities at home as a wife for the married. Recent research in South Africa discovered that more than thirty percent (31.5%) of girl at age 18 have given birth at least once. This statistics according to them shows that pregnancy especially that of the teenager is becoming more and more a barrier to girl’s education. Marteleto et al (2018) continued to note that school girl’s pregnancy has been one of the major hindrances to the educational success of women. Changach (2012) concluded that this imposes long term consequences on the career development of these young mothers and hence is likely to lead to transmission of poverty from generation to generation.

Kanku and Mash (2010)  affirmed that falling pregnant while still at school happen at the wrong time for a girl as it affect very much their education and often ends up ruining their future. Several studies have evidently been deft into to investigate the female pregnancy impact on their academic performance. Thus, there is need to contribute to the existing knowledge and research by examining the recent trends in female pregnancy in secondary schools as well as its effect on their academic achievement. Therefore, this study will examine the effect of teenage pregnancy on female students’ academic achievement in secondary schools in Ondo West Local Government Area of Ondo State.

1.3    Objective of the Study

                 The broad objective of the study is to examine the effect of teenage pregnancy on female students’ academic achievement in secondary schools in Ondo West Local Government Area of Ondo State.

Specifically, the study tends to:

1. examine the effect of teenage pregnancy on female students’ academic achievement in secondary schools.
2. examine the factors that lead to teenage pregnancy of female students in secondary schools in Ondo West Local Government Area of Ondo.

• examine the level of awareness of the effect of pregnancy among the female students in secondary schools in Ondo West Local Government Area of Ondo State.

1. examine the ways of reducing teenage pregnancy among female students in secondary schools in Ondo West Local Government Area of Ondo State.

1.4    Research Question

1. What is the effect of teenage pregnancy on female students, academic achievement in secondary schools in Ondo West Local Government Area of Ondo State?
2. What is the level of awareness of the effect of pregnancy among the female students in secondary schools in Ondo West Local Government Area of Ondo State?

• What are the factors that lead to teenage pregnancy of female students in secondary schools in ondo West Local Government Area of Ondo State?

1. What are the ways of reducing teenage pregnancy among female students in secondary schools?

1.5    Research Hypothesis

H₀:       There is no significant relationship between teenage pregnancy of female students and their academic achievement in secondary schools

H₁:       There is significant relationship between teenage pregnancy of female students and their academic achievement in secondary schools

1.6    Significant of the Study

This study would reveal the impact pregnancy have on the academic performance among the female students secondary schools. In most cases, school girls who become pregnant in rural areas and towns have to either resort to unsafe abortions or they face official school expulsion due to pregnancy.

The findings of this study would also be of help to parents and guardians or sponsors in the area of supporting the students with proper advices and monitoring during their stay in school. It would also help them to give proper and adequate support both financially and materially which could sustain those students for them to have full concentration to their studies and not to be carried away with the deceitful boys or men in the street.

Those most likely to benefit from the findings of this study are the Government Parastatas, Ministry of Education as well as the school management, especially in the formulation and strengthening of policies that guard teenage pregnancies in schools and the possible re-admission of the affected girls back to school. While in many settings, rules are currently being liberalized to provide for possibility of re-entry, the number of those returning back to school is still very low. And due to the fact that a pregnant schoolgirl has to choose between dropping out of school and undergoing an abortion in order to remain in school, poses a high cost associated with becoming pregnant while still in school. On the other hand, boys who get the girls pregnant do not face the same risks.

In addition, the finding of the study would also in no doubt be of help to female students most especially in secondary schools, through the understanding of the devastating effect of teenage pregnancy on their academic achievement to be more conscious and resist any form of unwanted or unintended pregnancy that could jeopardize their educational goal. The result obtained would be useful in helping the other female students in choice of marriage and prevention of pregnancies while in school to avoid disruption or distraction in academic progression..

It is also expected that the finding of the study would serve as a useful reference materials for researchers who wish to carry out study in related topics.

1.7     Scope and Delimitation of the Study

The study tends to examine the effect of teenage pregnancy on female students’ academic achievement in secondary schools. The study would be carried out in five selected secondary schools in Ondo West Local Government Area of Ondo State. One hundred and fifty (150) students would be randomly selected from the selected secondary schools.

1.8    Definition of Terms

• Pregnancy: The term used to describe the period in which a fetus develops in a woman’s womb or uterus.
• Teenage Pregnancy: The pregnancy occurring in the young girls between the age of thirteen and nineteen years
• Academic Achievement: The qualitative outcome obtained by student from different evaluation techniques such as sociometry, observation, rating and even tests and examination inclusive.
• Academic Performance: The quantitative outcome gotten by a student after assessment such as student’s score in a test or examination.
• Secondary Schools: A midway between the primary school and the tertiary institution. A form of education that students receive after their primary education and before their tertiary education.
• Education: A lifelong process that enables the continuous development of a person’s capability as an individual and as a member of the society

Project – The effect of teenage pregnancy on female students’ academic achievement in secondary schools