Perceived Pregnancies, Educational Achievement and school dropout among secondary school students in Rabaga Division

Abstract

Teenage pregnancy is a challenging issue and public health concern. A correlation study was conducted to find out perceived teenage pregnancies, education achievement and school dropout among secondary school students in Rubaga division. One hundred teenagers attending school were selected by using probability purposive sampling. Data was collected by questionnaire and semi structured interview schedule and analyzed and interpreted using descriptive statistics and inferential statistics. The finding of this study revealed that, the majority of the students indicated the major cause of teenage pregnancy is lack of basic needs required for the girls 20(33.4%) followed by bad peer groups where students get engaged in and learn sexual related matter/acts 16(26.7%). Further, the study findings Results show that there is a positive significant relationship between teenage pregnancy and school drop (P=.000<0.01, r = .076**). Academic achievement is significantly related to school dropout. The findings show that there is a positive significant relationship between education achievement and school dropout (P=.000<0.01, r=.103**). And lastly Results show that there is a positive significant relationship between teenage pregnancy and academic achievement (P=.000<0.01, r = .074**). The study recommended that life skills training should be carried out in schools to equip girls with abilities to navigate through the life challenges such as temptation for early sex driven largely by peer influence. Traditional institutions should be supported to come up with measures to stop pregnancy of young girls particularly those at school by reviewing some of the traditional practices such as payment for children born before marriage by making it more prohibitive in order to discourage teenage pregnancy.