##issue.issue##

##issue.vol## 10 ##issue.no## 6 (2021)

Re-joining Formal Schooling After a Postpartum Hiatus: Experiences of Teenage Mothers of Zanzibar

https://doi.org/10.56279/jhss.v10i6.115
Elliott P. Niboye

Corresponding Author(s) : Elliott P. Niboye

epniboye@udsm.ac.tz

Journal of Humanities & Social Science (JHSS), ##issue.vol## 10 ##issue.no## 6 (2021)

##article.abstract##

The lack of nuanced understanding of how teens undertake their triple roles as mothers,
parents and student is prevalent in Tanzania. This article highlights the plight of teenage
mothers who are readmitted back to formal schooling in Zanzibar. Four objectives guided
this study. The first was to determine the age at which most teenage girls fall pregnant,;
second, how long do teen mothers take to return to school after delivery; third, the
challenges that teenage mothers encounters when they re-join schooling; and lastly, the
coping strategies used by teen mothers to overcome challenges encountered after rejoining school. Public rapid appraisal methods were used to collect data. Secondary
information was sourced from various grey literatures. The major findings reveals that the
age at which most teenage girls are more likely to become pregnant was between fifteen
to seventeen years. On average, most teenage mothers returned to formal schooling in
less than three months after delivery. Those with inadequate support to care for their
babies, and are not in conjugal relationship, take long to get back to formal schooling;
and in extreme cases they fail to resume studies. All teenage mothers experience
individual and institutional challenges upon returning to school. Unmarried teenage
mothers suffer more compared to those who are married. In coping with individual
challenges, most teenage mothers seek help from diverse sources. Having the requisite
law notwithstanding, a clear implementation strategy is found wanting to ensure that all
pregnant teenage girls are supported and encouraged to return to school after delivery,
and to further institute an effective monitoring and evaluation system to ensure that
educational and other rights of teenage mothers are met.

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##submission.howToCite##

Re-joining Formal Schooling After a Postpartum Hiatus: Experiences of Teenage Mothers of Zanzibar. (2022). Journal of Humanities & Social Science (JHSS), 10(6). https://doi.org/10.56279/jhss.v10i6.115
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