Girls’ re-entry into school after pregnancy in the Ashiedu Keteke Submetro district, Accra: Implications for a substantive policy

Abstract

Government directive on student mothers’ access to continued education and the Inclusive Education Policy are intended among other things to address issues of exclusion in education and also ensure educational attainment among pregnant students in Ghana. This paper explores some of the implementation issues that have arisen, especially constraints to school re-entry such as stigma and poverty; as well as challenges encountered by student mothers in Ashiedu Keteke Sub-Metro district in Accra. Personal in-depth interviews were conducted with 30 girls who were purposively sampled with 26 other key informants. The findings revealed that the inability of student mothers to re-integrate into formal education was due to constraints such as childcare responsibilities, poor economic background, and unsympathetic teachers and school mates. Further, the absence of specific guidelines, capacity development and sensitization to execute the provisions of the directive is constraining the smooth implementation of the directive. The preparation of a substantive policy with the required legal backing was suggested