Aim: The aim of the study is to explore the opinions of key stakeholders such as school learners, parents, and community nurses regarding learner pregnancy support in schools. The study was conducted at a municipality in North West province, South Africa.
Background: Many girls in schools across the globe are at risk of
becoming pregnant before they complete their secondary education. It is
considered taboo in many communities for a school-aged girl to become pregnant
while still a learner. Pregnant learners are often subjected to challenges such
as discrimination by other learners and teachers, lack of academic support, and
access to medical help while in school. Coupled with pregnancy-related
adversities, pregnant learners require continuous support because they are at
risk of dropping out of school.
Methodology: An exploratory, descriptive, qualitative study was
conducted using in-depth interviews with learners and community nurses and
focus group interviews for parents. The population was sampled purposively, and
the sample size was 52 participants, determined by data saturation. 17 interviews
were conducted for learners, 4 focus group interviews with 25 participants were
conducted for parents, and 10 in-depth interviews were conducted for community
nurses. Data were analyzed using thematic analysis.
Results: Four themes were identified: essential parents’ support,
support from local community clinics, nurses’ school visits, and lack of
support from other stakeholders. Parents were identified as the inevitable main
source of support for pregnant learners. Moreover, nurses in community clinics
were not engaging learners in schools; however, youth-friendly services were
available at the community clinics. Parents, nurses, teachers, social workers,
and the Departments of Health and Education were identified as major
stakeholders.
Conclusion: The effectiveness of the learner pregnancy policy has
gaps, which might be attributed to the difficulty in involving all essential
stakeholders. Stakeholders should all play an important role in supporting
pregnant learners. Despite the need for a collaborative effort, community
nurses should play a prominent role in school-based sexual and reproductive
education, support, and other learner pregnancy prevention activities in
clinics and schools.
Recommendations: Parents must identify and guide sexually active
learners and direct them to the clinic for sexual and reproductive health
services like contraception and family planning. It is expected of community
nurses to support pregnant learners facing pregnancy-related difficulties and
offer pertinent coping mechanisms.
Author
(s) Details
Tshiamo
N Ramalepa
Department of Nursing Science, School of Healthcare Sciences,
Sefako Makgatho Health Sciences University, Pretoria, South Africa.
Lucky
Letswalo
Department of Nursing Science, School of Healthcare Sciences,
Sefako Makgatho Health Sciences University, Pretoria, South Africa
Please see the book here:- https://doi.org/10.9734/bpi/aoller/v10/4010
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