Teenage pregnancies rise in parts of Kenya as lockdown shuts schools

Close to 4,000 school girls impregnated in Kenya during COVID-19 lockdown

The articles all cited data from a recently released Kenya government health information survey, and most attributed the high pregnancy numbers to the COVID-19 lockdown. That seemed to make sense. Since the pandemic hit Kenya in mid-March, healthcare providers have been warning about its potential to increase rates of teenage pregnancies.


The articles all cited data from a recently released Kenya government health information survey, and most attributed the high pregnancy numbers to the COVID-19 lockdown. That seemed to make sense. Since the pandemic hit Kenya in mid-March, healthcare providers have been warning about its potential to increase rates of teenage pregnancies. The articles all cited data from a recently released Kenya government health information survey, and most attributed the high pregnancy numbers to the COVID-19 lockdown. That seemed to make sense. Since the pandemic hit Kenya in mid-March, healthcare providers have been warning about its potential to increase rates of teenage pregnancies.



But many of the articles published last month failed to put the numbers of teen pregnancies into context. In Kenya, high-risk early pregnancy has long been a societal challenge. Government demographic data from 2014, the latest available, show that 15 percent of girls aged 15-19 had already given birth, and another three percent were pregnant with their first child – the highest rates in East Africa. Underpinning any COVID-19-related rise in teen pregnancies are other significant challenges, including insufficient funding for reproductive health services and a lack of comprehensive sex education in schools – which have contributed to Kenya’s alarming numbers.


COVID-19 makes it worse, Ashley Akoth*

Comprehensive national data on the impact of COVID-19 on teen pregnancy rates are not yet available. At least anecdotally, though, some healthcare providers suspect a coronavirus effect.


Last September, Ashley Okoth*, a high school student living in a remote village in western Kenya, boarded a public bus to travel to the nearest city to visit her aunt. She sat next to an older man, who seemed friendly and started chatting with her. By the end of the ride, Okoth had taken his number, and the two began texting. Okoth was an eager student, who enjoyed physics, math, and geography and loved playing baseball and handball with her friends. She planned to attend university to become a teacher. So Okoth was devastated when COVID-19 closed her school in mid-March, and her days blurred into a mundane routine of doing chores and helping her mother at her job as a sand harvester.



With time on her hands, Okoth decided to visit the man from the bus, and they had sex. Just weeks later, Okoth realised she was pregnant. She says her father will prevent her from returning to school — a punishment for her pregnancy.



“I wish I had been going to school, because if I had been [occupied] going to school, this would have not happened,” Okoth told The New Humanitarian. “I feel bad because my dream has failed now just because of my pregnancy.”



“I feel bad because my dream has failed now just because of my pregnancy.”



Okoth is not alone.


Lack of sex education


In 2013, the Kenyan government committed to scaling up sex education, beginning courses in primary schools. But efforts to make good on this promise have been met with fierce opposition from conservative and religious groups.



Currently, when sex education is taught at all, courses focus largely on HIV prevention and abstinence — which means students’ knowledge of reproductive and sexual health is often limited.



“Parents told us, ‘Those things are taught in school. We do not talk to our children about sex. That is a taboo. So we expect that the teachers should tell our children about sex and about how to protect themselves,’” said Mercy Chege, director of programmes at Plan International, an NGO advocating for children’s rights and girls’ equality.



She continued: “The teachers say, ‘It is the work of the parents to teach their children about sex’... So now you’ll find that the children will go back to the internet, they’ll go back to their friends and they’ll try to discover.”



It’s a situation familiar to Okoth, the high school student who is now pregnant. She said she learned the basics of human reproduction in school, but she never received a thorough sexual health education.



Kenya’s parliament is currently debating legislation mandating age-appropriate sex education in schools.



But religious leaders and cultural conservatives have launched an aggressive campaign against the bill, arguing that such a curriculum runs counter to Kenyan cultural values. They’ve taken to the airwaves and social media platforms to encourage a public backlash against the bill.


What it means for young girls

Pregnancy and childbirth complications are the leading cause of death among girls aged 15–19 years globally, according to the WHO. A 2017 Kenyan study into maternal deaths revealed that nine percent of women who died in the hospital were teenagers.Of pregnant teenagers who survive childbirth, nearly 98 percent drop out of school, research conducted in Kenya last year by Plan International shows.

Of pregnant teenagers who survive childbirth, nearly 98 percent drop out of school.

Most, like Okoth, will never return. Chege says that without education, survival for many girls will mean turning to transactional sex or marriage to a man who can “keep” them and their children. And, she warns, the legacy of high teenage pregnancy rates will almost certainly outlast the coronavirus in Kenya. “For years we have been struggling to elevate the girl child,” Chege told TNH. “So when you talk about gender equality, when you talk about women’s empowerment, two, four, five, 10 years to come, it’s going to be affected by what is happening right now.”

“If you do not get the girls to go to school, how are we ever going to get them into hospitals as executives or even in parliament or senate as decision-makers or lawmakers?”

Key Details

Integration of Transferable Skills

The project aimed to produce evidence to inform thinking and policies to incorporate transferable skills into secondary schools and technical and vocational education training (TVET) curricula in selected counties. The study had relevance to other counties facing similar challenges relating to youth development as well.

Experts vow to tackle problem of unemployable graduates

The primary objective of the project was to document and share experiences on how different types of transferable skills have been incorporated into formal education systems in selected African countries The project’s specific objectives were to.

Transferable skills a key to driving the employability of Kenyan graduates

It was envisioned that the evidence would lead to action in scaling up incorporation of transferable skills in schools. Youth would acquire these skills, which would help unleash their full economic potential through improved employability and economic productivity

The potential impact of COVID-19 on teenage pregnancy in Kenya

"It’s so rewarding to see these girls open up. Some come here shy and dejected, and now they are the first to speak up. Social media has taken over from traditional guidance. It’s no wonder there’s a rise in [teen pregnancies] with such a poor teacher. You realize what is happening to them could just as easily have happened to you. ”

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