Perception of Adolescent Pregnancy among Secondary School Educators and Students in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania

Abstract

The motive of this study was to explore the views of educators and learners on adolescent pregnancy. The study examined factors contributing to adolescent pregnancy and explored secondary school educators' and students’ perceptions of the influence of teen  pregnancy on school performance. Adolescent pregnancy is a prevalent social issue with far-reaching consequences, including  implications for the academic achievements of young mothers. The scope of this problem has reached an alarming rate, impacting social,  cultural, political, and economic spheres in many African countries, Tanzania in particular. Social cognitive and social-ecological  theories guide this study to come up with a comprehensive understanding of how educators and students perceive adolescent  pregnancy in secondary schools. It explored educators and students in five secondary schools in Kinondoni Municipality and employed  in-depth interviews with secondary school educators and focus group discussions with students to gather rich, context-specific data. The findings revealed that adolescent pregnancy had effects on the students, schools, parents/family, community and the nation as a whole.  Some of the Cultural practices were also revealed to be among the contributing factors to the occurrence of teenage pregnancies. The  researcher recommends the following: secondary schools should implement comprehensive sex education programs; educators and  parents should play a crucial role in delivering accurate information to students; and early interventions should be developed to identify  at-risk students early.