CHAPTER ONE

GENERAL INTRODUCTION

Background of the study

Historical background

The issue emerged from social invisibility during the 1950s and early 1960s, when rates of childbearing among teens reached historical peaks, and rose to a level of public obsession just as rates of teenage childbearing began to plummet in the late 1960s and early 1970s. In 1995, in his State of the Union address, President Bill Clinton singled out teenage childbearing as “our most serious social problem.”

When he issued this bit of hyperbole, the overall rate of teenage childbearing was barely more than half of what it had been several decades earlier, and even the rate of no marital childbearing among teenagers had begun a decline that has continued for more than a decade (U.S. Bureau of the Census 2007; Ventura, Mathews, and Hamilton 2001).

Clinton was not the first president to take note of the costs of early childbearing. Beginning with Jimmy Carter’s administration, every president since has put the issue high on his domestic agenda. Americans appear to agree with this emphasis.

An advocacy group aimed at preventing teenage pregnancy, reporting on the results of a poll conducted in 1995, concluded that “the number one symptom of erosion in family cohesiveness is the spread of teenage pregnancy” (National Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy 1997, 1).

Teenage pregnancy (with conceptions normally involving girls between age 13 and 19), was far more normal in previous centuries, and common in developed countries in the 20th century. Among Cameroonian women born in the early 1950s, nearly a quarter became teenage mothers by the early 1970s. However, the rates have steadily declined throughout the developed world since that 20th century peak. Among those born in Cameroon in the late 1970s, less than 10% became teenage mothers, and rates have fallen since then.

In United States, the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Act of 1996 included the objective of reducing the number of young Black and Latina single mothers on welfare, which became the foundation for teenage pregnancy prevention in the United States and the founding of the National Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy, now known as Power to Decide.

Globally there has been a growing concern about the alarming rate of teenage pregnancy and the consequences that this poses for parents, children and society as a whole. Teenage pregnancy emerged from social invisibility, lower educational levels and poverty involving young girls between the ages of 13 to 19 and was far normal in the previous century and common in developed countries during the 20th century (Hern 2015). Devernish and Greathead (1992), viewed teenage pregnancy as catastrophe of an individual, her family and society. Globally as of 2011, the number of teenage pregnancy in the world was 1.2 billion to 14 billion for adolescents aged 14 to 19 years and more than 90% of these births are occurring in developing countries (UNICEF,2011).

Mensch et al (2001) reported that in Africa, especially in Sub-Saharan Africa there are concerns about high rates of teenage pregnancy related to school drop outs and also leading to gender disparities in education in developing countries. Gyepi-Garbrah (1985) has explained that the plight of pregnant school girls in Africa is particularly wrenching, as they must either commit an abortion in order to continue with their education or drop out of school either on their own violation or on pan of threatened official expulsion. When girls drop out of school because of pregnancy their future socio-economic prospects are significantly reduced.

Conceptual review

Teenage pregnancy, also known as adolescent pregnancy, is pregnancy in a female under the age of 20  Pregnancy can occur with sexual intercourse after the start of ovulation, which can be before the first menstrual period (menarche) but usually occurs after the onset of periods In well-nourished girls, the first period usually takes place around the age of 12 or 13. Teenage or adolescent pregnancy means pregnancy in a woman aged 10 to 19 years (Treffers, 2004:5).

Spencer, (2011) defines teenage pregnancy as pregnancy occurring in a young girl between the age of 13 and 19, whereas Macleod (2011) defines teenage pregnancy as a social problem in which adult practices and functions (sexual intercourse, reproduction, and mothering) are displayed by a person who, owing to her age and developmental status, is not-yet-adult, that is, adult, but not adult, child, but not child.

Reintegrating refer to the movement of minority groups of a society into the mainstream of the society. The process of reintegration occurs that consolidates the new perspectives, adjustments in social relationships, and new behaviors. Whereas the comprehension and creative adaptation processes are characterized by realization of a loss, transition, and experimentation, reintegration rebuilds the stability of the revised self‐concept, expectancies about the future, and goals.

In contrast to the flux in preferences that occurs during creative adaptation as the person experiments with alternatives for living, there is continuity in values and goals during reintegration. With this continuity, the person experiences greater stability in relationships (.Knight & Linda, 2017). Reintegration allows for greater psychological and social stability, and a person in this process may feel more “settled.”

Lifelong learning is the “ongoing, voluntary, and self-motivated pursuit of knowledge for either personal or professional reasons. Therefore, it not only enhances social inclusion, active citizenship, and personal development, but also self-sustainability, as well as competitiveness and employability, (Allen Tough 1979).

In some contexts, the term “lifelong learning” evolved from the term “life-long learners”, created by Leslie Watkins and used by Professor Clint Taylor (CSULA) and Superintendent for the Temple City Unified School District’s mission statement in 1993, the term recognizes that learning is not confined to childhood or the classroom but takes place throughout life and in a range of situations.

In other contexts, the term “lifelong learning” evolved organically. The first lifelong learning institute began at The New School for Social Research (now New School University) in 1962 as an experiment in “learning in retirement”. Later, after similar groups formed across the United States, many chose the name “lifelong learning institute” to be inclusive of non-retired persons in the same age range.

Contextual review

According to Keller, Hilton and Twumasi-Ankrah (1999) third world countries have been confronted by this social problem of teenage pregnancy. However, teenage pregnancy has been linked to poverty and its subsequent motherhood, it has been viewed as a cause as well as an effect of teenage pregnancy.

It has therefore been observed that in rural communities, family financial status and social customs causes girls to stay out of school and engage into sexual relationships which lead to early pregnancy. According to Foumane et al (2013), Cameroon adolescents engage themselves in in unprotected sexual practice and having more than one partner at very tender ages. Existing data on Cameroon indicated that adolescents represent 21% of the total population and contributed 13.8% of deliveries. P.M. Tebeu et al (2004-2006) revealed that adolescent contribution to deliveries is 6.69% at the University Teaching Hospital in Yaounde and 26.54% in Maroua Regional Hospital in the Far North Region.

These findings suggest a disparity in the geographic distribution of adolescent deliveries in Cameroon. In Idenua, due to poor orientation, many teenage girls always get pregnant thereby are left with the risks of being uneducated, this explain why most of the girls in this area are illitratrate and most of them are seeking for opportunity to be educated.

Teenage pregnant girls goes through a lot of disgrace and embracement from their class mates, school mates, teachers, friends and even parents, most at times they are considered to be promiscuous, stubborn, outcast,  and at times considered as those who don’t love studies and even being disowned in some cases . They are equally being mocked, laugh at and insulted. These attributes affect teen mothers psychologically as they at times find it difficult to sit and study in the same class.

Statement of the Problem

The reintegration of teen mothers relative to school dropout unto lifelong schooling has been an issue of concern to all stakeholders in education, these include the parent, the government and even the teen mothers.

Teenage pregnant girls goes through a lot of disgrace and embracement from their class mates, school mates, teachers, friends and even parents, most at times they are considered to be promiscuous, stubborn, outcast,  and at times considered as those who don’t love studies and even being disowned in some cases . They are equally being mocked, laugh at and insulted. These attributes affect teen mothers psychologically as they at times find it difficult to sit and study in the same class.

With regard to teenage pregnancy, several polices have been adopted such as the policy environment by the UN. This policy environment is committed in eradicating all the obstacles that stand on the way of teenage mother’s access to school, their performance and completion of their secondary education. Another policy of the right to education, according to Guyana (2018) stated that, all children have the right to education on the bases of equal opportunity and without discrimination. This right to education include the right of teenage mothers not to be discriminated against because of parenthood.

Teenage pregnancy is a development issue of concern because of its negative consequences on the teenage girls, the children born and the community. First, the pregnancy itself brings changes to the girls‟ lives. In most cases, the girls‟ education is interrupted or may completely end as most either drop out from school or are expelled (Plan International, 2012).

Also teen mothers face a lot of difficulties in bringing up their children due to the fact that in most cases the children fathers are irresponsible, they are equally stigmatized, and always feel discourage to start school again given the fact that they are to start from where they stopped which in most cases their ages must have outgrown the class and equally the strict nature of school system at times discourage them from going back to school.

Furthermore, teenage girls lack qualifications for securing employment and therefore become trapped in poverty for the rest of their lives. Secondly, evidence show that children born to teenage mothers are most likely premature, have birth injuries or may even die during infancy (WHO, 2016). From this standpoint, we embarked on this project, reintegrating teenage pregnancy related school dropout into lifelong schooling, case study in the Idenue municipality.

Objective of the Study

General Objective of the Study.

The main objective of this study was to investigate strategies for reintegrating teenage pregnancy related to school dropout into lifelong school.

Specific Objective of the Study

1. To examine the impact of increasing public awareness of the right of school age teen mothers to an education and the need to reduce the incidence of teen pregnancy unto lifelong schooling.
2. To examine the framework for integrating and expanding the support service available to assist school age teen mothers to complete their education unto lifelong schooling.

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