Perspectives of teenage mothers and teachers about the return to school campaign: a case of Kajjansi Town Council, Wakiso district

Abstract

The study was carried out within Kajjansi Town Council, Wakiso district. The main purpose of the study was to find out the perspectives of teenage mothers and teachers about the return to school campaign. The focus of this study was; to establish levels of awareness about the return to school campaign of teenage mothers; to determine the attitudes and perceptions about the return to school campaign of teenage mothers and to find out the acceptability of teenage mothers back to the school environment in Kajjansi Town Council, Wakiso district. The study utilized a quantitative research approach. Data was collected from teachers and out of school teenage mothers. A total of 50 teachers and 20 out of school teenage mothers were sampled. The study employed a cross-sectional survey design. Data was collected using structured questionnaire tool and analyzed using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 26 at both univariate and bivariate levels.The study found that awareness of the return-to-school campaign is generally low across teenage mothers, teachers, and the community. Specifically, correlations such as r =.314 (p = .001) for awareness of government programs and r =.796 (p = .081) for knowledge about revised guidelines suggest limited understanding among teachers and teenage mothers. Perceptions towards the campaign among teenage mothers were strongly correlated with their participation, as indicated by a high correlation of .890 (p = .003) for the perceived need to return to school. The study concluded that awareness about the return-to-school campaign among teenage mothers, teachers, and the community is generally low, attitudes and perceptions revealed that teenage mothers who perceive a high need for education and have positive attitudes towards the campaign are more likely to participate and weak correlations between the acceptability of teenage mothers back into the school environment and their actual participation.The study recommended development of comprehensive awareness campaigns targeting teenage mothers, parents, teachers, and the community and a detailed study on the teacher’s knowledge and practices with a focus on the revised guidelines for the prevention and management of teenage pregnancies in school settings in Uganda.