“This is my second year since I started taking contraceptives and it’s because I don’t want to get pregnant while I am still in school and I have rented a room because my home is far, but am staying with my boyfriend who is also schooling here in form three, the situation affects my studies, but I had no choice because my parents are poor they can only offer little money.

“A friend of mine was telling me I was young to start taking contraceptives, but I have to do it because I don’t want to stop schooling. I am now in form one and my parents don’t know that am taking contraceptives,” Josephine revealed.

During a recent fact finding tour of Masaki, Masanganya Secondary Schools in Kisarawe District Coast region in Tanzania, on early pregnancies coordinated by Haki Elimu, this reporter discovered that many students take contraceptives and they visit health dispensaries requesting for them.

Alarmingly, they are not aware that contraceptives do not prevent sexually transmitted diseases such as HIV/Aids, something they are told when they get to the clinics, according to Jones Kalinga, a clinical officer.

Early pregnancy

Less than one third of teenage mothers receive any form of child support, vastly increasing the likelihood of turning to the government for assistance. The correlation between early pregnancy childbearing and failure to complete high school reduces carrier opportunities for many young women.

One study found that in 2000, 60 percent of teenage mothers were impoverished at that time of giving birth. Additional research found that nearly 50 percent of all adolescent mothers sought social assistance within the first five years of their childhood life.

Most teenage mothers live in poverty, with nearly half in the bottom fifth of the income distribution. Teenage women who are pregnant or mothers are seven times more likely to commit suicide than teenagers.

But teenage motherhood may actually make economic sense for poorer young women. Poor academic performance in the children of teenage mothers has also been noted, with many of them being likely than average to fail to graduate from secondary school.

Women exposed to abuse, domestic violence, and family strife in childhood are more likely to become pregnant as teenagers, and the risk of becoming pregnant as a teenager increases with the number of adverse childhood experiences.

According to a study, one third of teenage pregnancies could be prevented by eliminating exposure to abuse, violence, and family dysfunction has been enduring and unfavorable health consequences for women during the adolescent year’s child bearing years and beyond.

When the family environment does include adverse childhood experience, becoming pregnant as an adolescent does not appear to raise the likelihood of long term negative pyschosocial consequences.


Giving birth at a very early stage becoming a norm now in Tanzania

Causes

Studies have found that boys raised in homes with battered mother or who experienced physical violence directly, were significantly more likely to impregnate a girl.

Studies have also found that girls whose fathers left family early in their lives and had the highest rates of early sexual activity and adolescent pregnancy. Girls whose fathers left them at a later age had a lower rate of early sexual activity, and the lowest rates are found in girls whose fathers were present throughout their childhood.

Poverty is a major driving force to early pregnancies and poor academic performance Kisarawe district as poor parents accept bribes not to prosecute men implicated in impregnating girls pupils, local government official says.

“Despite the government’s concerted efforts to contain the problem in schools nothing has so far changed because parents are a stumbling block,” ward executive officers said.

“We have tried to deal with the problem because some parents continue receiving bride prices from men implicated in impregnating their daughters.”

Speaking to Halima Saidi, a parent with two students at Masanganya Secondary School, she said that another problem is partially contributed by schools situated far away from homes. Most of the schools are 20 km from villages as students are forced to rent rooms in the neighborhood.

According to her the problem of early pregnancies is prevalent in both primary and secondary schools. Film shows are also said to contribute to the problem as girls would imitate the behavior of the actors.

Miragi Hassan, whose two daughters are not performing well in class in most terms; one in form one and the other in form three; feels because students do not concentrate in class it is having a great toll on them.

Lack of money

According to him many students prefer being given a lot of money that’s how they will concentrate in class especially those who have rent rooms.

According to Mwajuma Hassan, 13, who dropped out of school and will return to her parents’ home after delivery, she will partly blame her parents for refusing to take care of her needs.

“I couldn’t be in this situation if my parents gave me enough money to maintain myself. Whenever I ask them for money, they say they don’t have enough, so I was tempted to seek help from somewhere else since I had no choice,” Hassan stated.

On his part, the district’s Secondary Education Officer, Donald Chavila, said although they are going at length to give out quality education, the practice where a male and female student live under same room as ‘spouses’ is the main cause of their lack of concentration in class.

“Many students have rented because the schools are far from their homes, but others end up staying with male students where as they stay as husband and wives, this contribute to low concentration in class,” he explained.

Speaking on the problem of pregnancy in secondary schools in the district, Chavila said that the problem was chronic and arresting the victims was a big challenge. According to him, poor performance was also contributed by lack of facilities in schools, classrooms, hostel, libraries and absenteeism of students.

Chavila added that as a way to solve the problem the office will collaborate with different stakeholders so that they can contribute and build classrooms, libraries and hostels. According to him the district was expecting to receive some funding to construct classrooms, toilets and desks.