Managing Teenage Pregnancies in South African Secondary Schools

Teenage pregnancy in South African schools poses a serious management and leadership challenge. Statistics from Statistics South Africa (2008) reflect the seriousness of this problem in all provinces wherein Mpumalanga, Northern Cape, Limpopo (where this study is situated) and Eastern Cape report high levels of early pregnancy. The main objective of this study was, therefore, to explore the challenges faced by the SMTs regarding teenage pregnancies at secondary schools in the Vhembe District in Limpopo province. A mixed methods approach was used to collect data from SMTs in schools that are located in Vhembe district. Questionnaires were distributed to the school management teams (SMTs) of different schools. In addition, qualitative data were collected through interviewing the SMTs. The study findings reflected that management of teenage pregnancy is still a problem at Vhembe District of Education despite the laws and policies that are in place. SMTs also felt that the issue of pregnant learners at schools should be left for medical experts to deal with them. The study recommends that there ought to be intervention programs including training of SMTs, SGBs and Educators regarding