The return of teen mothers to the formal school system : redeeming the second chance to complete secondary education.

Countries across the world attend to the phenomenon of teen motherhood in varying ways and from varying points of emphases. My research focused on teen motherhood in the Jamaican context, where teen pregnancy is perceived to be a social problem. In 1978, the Jamaican Government initiated the Women's Centre Programme for Adolescent Mothers. The Programme intervention seeks to provide continued education for teen mothers during their pregnancy, and to return them to the formal school system, subsequent to the birth of their babies. Previous research found that a significant number of teen mothers in Jamaica do not complete their secondary education after their return to school. My research contended that, with the high cost of executing the Programme, and with the benefits to be derived from secondary education, every effort should be made to ensure that the teen mothers complete their secondary education. My research therefore sought to identify the factors that facilitate or frustrate the completion of secondary education for teen mothers who enroll in the Programme and return to the formal school system. My research found that completion was facilitated by: preparation to return to school, internal fortitude, post-placement monitoring, familial support, as well as institutional support. Completion was frustrated by: inadequate preparation to return to school, insufficient post-placement monitoring, inadequate coping skills, little or no familial support, financial constraints, domestic challenges, and a second pregnancy. My research also found a disparity between the 'pre-placement' and 'post-placement' components of the intervention. In a timely way, my research will help to meet national and international objectives: in particular, the Millennium Development Goals; Vision 2030 Jamaica. My research amplifies the voice of teen mothers in Jamaica; it provides a platform from which teen mothers may tell their own stories; it should reconfigure the national posture toward teen mothers. The findings of my research should: offer helpful insights into the experiences of teen mothers who are returned to school; add to the body of knowledge surrounding teen motherhood; and provoke further study into the phenomenon, not just in Jamaica but also in the Caribbean at large.