An exploration of school structures in the provision of support mechanisms to the readmitted teen mothers in selected school in Mzuzu

Abstract

ABSTRACTThe government of Malawi through the Ministry of Education developed the Re-admission policy on teen mothers in 1994. The policy allowed adolescent mothers to go back to school after delivery. It was intended to reduce pregnancy-related school dropout rates amongst girls. This study seeks to explore the school supporting mechanisms structures for the readmitted teen mothers in selected secondary school in northern Malawi Mzuzu city. The specific objectives of the study are: to investigate the school structures that provides mechanisms to support readmission of teen mothers; to evaluate mechanisms provided by the school structures in supporting readmitted teen mothers; to examine the challenges faced by school structures in the provision of support mechanisms to readmitted teen mothers. The theoretical framework for the study is path-goal leadership theory which was developed by Robert house an Ohio state university graduate in the year 1971 and was revised in 1996. This theory proposes that leaders must clarify the paths to the goals and remove or help followers around the obstacles to the goals. In its simplest form, the theory reminds leaders that the overarching purpose of leadership is to guide and coach followers as they move along the path to achieve a goal (House and Mitchell 1974). The target population of this research was four public secondary schools. The four secondary schools were purposefully selected depending on the number of readmitted teen mother enrolled i.e. the selected secondary schools required to have not less than five readmitted teen mother at the time of the study. Mixed day Purposive sampling technique was also used to sample school committee leaders, mother group leaders, parent teacher association leaders, a school counsellor and a teacher. The sample size for this study is sixty respondents. Data collection instruments included interview guides and checklist. Qualitative data was organized in thematic categories according to the study objectives and then analyzed thematically. Teen mothers were the main beneficiaries of this study since they are the main targets of the Re-admission policy. Besides the adolescent mothers, the findings from this study are expected to be useful to education policy makers, secondary school head teachers, teachers and parents.