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Article Title: Barriers to Effective Parental Participation in Teenage Mothers' Education in Mixed Day Secondary Schools: A Case of Wareng' District, Uasin Gishu County, Kenya
by Sulo Pricilah, Tom Nyang'au and J. K. Chang'ach

Abstract:
The Government of Kenya has sought to address the challenges facing the education of the girl child through a range of policy initiatives. In spite of such policies, 13, 0000 girls are estimated to drop out of school annually due to pregnancy alone. All these efforts that support girl child education are devoid of a parent's participation who is a key stakeholder in the education of a child. Parent participation in Kenyan schools is still low. The purpose of the study was to examine the barriers to effective parental participation in re-admission of teenage mothers in secondary schools in Kenya. Data from teenage mothers and other targeted groups was obtained in a descriptive survey design. The sample was made up of 74 respondents with 23 teenage mothers, 23 parents of the teenage mothers and 28 head teachers. The study employed saturation sampling technique to select the 28 head teachers who are the major decision makers in teenage mother re-admission. Purposive and snowball sampling techniques were used to enable the selection of both the girls who had recently dropped out of school and their parents in Kenya. The study findings revealed that barriers to parental participation were teenage mothers' unwillingness to return to school, the schools' failure to adequately sensitize parents of teenage mothers and lack of follow up on teenage mothers who were at home. Parents' attributes such as age, education levels, socio-economic status, negative attitude towards the girl child and parents' health status significantly influenced parental participation in teenage mother education. The study recommends deliberate actions to inform head teachers on the 'Re-entry Policy' and highlight on the role of parents in the re-admission process of teenage mothers. Parent should be advised on the importance of reconciling with their daughters and taking care of their babies. Mechanisms should be put in place for following up teenage mothers who did not return to school. This should translate to better employment opportunities for the girl child in the future. This study will help in developing policies geared towards active parental involvement in girl education to improve their quality of education.

Keywords: teenage mothers' education, readmission, parental participation.

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