Continuing Education for Adolescent Mothers in Kilifi County: Challenges and Opportunities for Enhancing School Re-entry.

The impact of adolescent pregnancies on health and education of girls aged 10-19 years, are of concern both globally and in sub-Saharan Africa. The low rate of school re-entry following childbirth is of public health concern due to the association between low maternal education and maternal and child health outcomes. There is strong evidence that sustained access to education by women protects their health and increases their opportunity to negotiate healthy lifestyles and appropriate healthcare for themselves and their families. <br><br> In Kenya, pregnancies make a significant contribution to school drop-out of adolescent girls. Many of these girls face significant challenges in school re-entry after becoming mothers. <br><br> My study sought to understand the policy context, perceptions, and influence of key stakeholders in the school re-entry process in Kilifi County, Kenya; and critically assess how these align with the perceptions, experiences, and needs of adolescent mothers and their families. I used an exploratory qualitative and participatory research approach, employing policy document review, in-depth interviews, focus group discussions and digital storytelling to explore the challenges and opportunities of education access for adolescent mothers in Kilifi County. An intersectionality lens informed the collection and interpretation of the data, and the analysis was conducted using framework and narrative approaches. <br><br> The findings reveal that there is clear policy and proclaimed stakeholder support for education access for adolescent mothers. However, gaps in school re-entry policies and discrepancies in implementation practice create inequality and uncertainty in the re-entry process. Poverty and stigma were key challenges fuelling inequality in access to education by adolescent mothers in Kilifi. However, the lack of clearly defined and adequately monitored re-entry processes intersected with gender and social norms, family support, and academic ability to amplify the challenges of poverty and discrimination and generated heterogeneity in educational access for adolescent mothers.