Timing of pregnancy and first birth and its impact on schooling in South Africa : The case of Black women in North West Province

Abstract

Schooling is a powerful tool that imparts knowledge, attitudes, skills and aspirations required for achieving individual potentials. However, most women in South Africa do not achieve their full potential because of low school attainment, which has partly been attributed to learner pregnancy, school dropout and low school re-entry. The objectives of this study were therefore to estimate the magnitude of learner pregnancy, school dropout and school re-entry as key determinants of educational attainments and identify their predictors in the North West province of South Africa, where the magnitude of these phenomena and their predictors are not well known. The study used cross-sectional data on 582 black women from Bojanala and Modiri- Molema districts. The inclusion criteria of the women were being black, enrolled in school at age 14 and not having experienced a pregnancy before age 14. A structured and pre-coded questioimaire was used to collect individual, school, household and neighbourhood level data from the women using face to face interviews by trained research assistants. Data analysis was done by use of univariate analysis, which described the individual, school, household and neighbourhood level profiles of the women; bivariate analysis which examined differentials and the association between school pregnancy, school dropout and school re-entry by the women's individual, school, household and neighbourhood level covariates and the Kaplan-Meier survival plots which estimated the mean ages and mean grades of learner pregnancy and school dropout respectively. At the multivariate level, the nested binary logistic regression model and the Cox proportional hazard models were used to identify the predictors of school pregnancy, school dropout and school re-entry. The study found that 38% of the women experienced learner pregnancy. Learner pregnancy was significantly more likely if the had sexual debut at less than 18 years; were in a low grade at age 14, had attained less than grade 11; perceived that neighbourhood peers were not in school; and lived in rural areas at ac 14. Conversely, learner pregnancy was lower if the women had no previous school dropout experience and had mothers who attained grade 8 or higher. The rate of school dropout was also high (53%). Women of birth order 4 or higher; had sexual debut at less than 18 years; experienced leaner pregnancy; started schooling at 7 years or older; were in a low grade (grade 8) at age 14; had mothers who attained less than grade 11; and lived in rural neighbourhoods at age 14 were significantly more likely to have dropped out of school. Regarding school re-entry, only 28.1% of the women who previously dropped out of school returned to school, indicating that school re-entry rates were low despite having school re-entry policy in place. The low school re-entry rate was attributed to learner pregnancy and dropping out of school due to pregnancy related reasons; dropping out of school at ages 17-19 years; perceiving that neighbourhood peers were not in school; and residing in rural neighbourhoods at age 14. Conversely, school re-entry was found to be more likely if the women were in the youngest age group, had a dropout duration of less than 3 years, lived in both parent and extended families and lived in Bojanala at age 14. The study concludes that learner pregnancy is prevalent in the North West province and is the most important contributor to high school dropout and low school reentry of women. This is despite the availability of a policy that prioritizes the integration of previously pregnant and young mothers to school. The high rate of learner pregnancy and school dropout, and low school re-entry rates are influenced by individual, school, household and community level factors. Reversing these situations require the integration of individual, school, household and community level initiatives to eradicate learner pregnancy, prevent school dropouts and encourage the school reintegration of the girl child in order to improve the educational attainment of women in North West province in particular and South Africa in general.