Beyond the Dropout Statistic: A Multi-Indicator Analysis of the Educational Attrition Cascade Following Adolescent Pregnancy Among Female Secondary Learners in Kilifi County, Kenya

Although adolescent pregnancy is commonly cited as a cause of female school drop-out in sub-Saharan Africa, the majority of the studies on this topic have used only one measure, typically dropout rate, and few studies have followed the progression of the disadvantages that occur in girls' subsequent schooling. This article is based on findings from a convergent parallel mixed methods study involving 353 adolescent girls aged 15-19 years, 28 secondary schools, and 67 secondary school education officials, teachers, parents and out-of-school adolescent mothers in Kilifi County, Kenya on the association between adolescent pregnancy and adolescent girls' academic journey. The data collected were quantitative (structured questionnaire, school administrative data) and qualitative (interviews, focus group discussion) and were analysed using chi-square, binomial, descriptive statistics and thematic analysis respectively. There were 157 students who became pregnant, and 90.4% of them dropped out of school; only 16.2% (p < .001) of these students re-enrolled, which was much lower than the 31.0% county average. However, the retention rates for the pregnant students decreased from 34.6 percent from Form 1 to 2 to 19.8 percent from Form 3 to 4, with the gap between pregnant and general students' retention rates widening from 52.7 percentage points to 59.8 percentage points. Less than 1 in 8 pupils who became pregnant completed their secondary education (8.9%) compared to 71.4% of non-pregnant pupils, and the lower the secondary completion rate the sooner the pregnancy took place during the school cycle. Despite being successful in Form 4, only 7.1% of the pregnant students entered into tertiary education, while 52.8% of the non-pregnant students went to tertiary education. These findings are not about one exit, but a series of attritions, where disadvantage builds at each stage. It suggests a framework of a sequence of indicators to monitor this cascade and contends that actions to prevent students from dropping out will systematically underestimate, and under-address, the extent of educational loss.

adolescent pregnancy; school dropout; academic progression; retention and completion; Kilifi County, Kenya

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