Girl-Pupil Dropout in Secondary Schools in Botswana: Influencing Factors, Prevalence and Consequences
Mrs. Serefete Molosiwa, Dr. Bernard Moswela

Abstract
This is a position paper that presents the authors’ views and what pertains in the literature regarding school teenage-pregnancy in Botswana. It also analyses the educational statistics of Botswana secondary schools’ pupil dropout due to pregnancy. The global literature on the subject augmented the analysis. The resultant discussion of the analysis was made under the sub-headings: factors that influence pregnancy among secondary school girls; what the law of Botswana says on the school girl who falls pregnant; prevalence of the problem in schools; and consequences of school girls’ pregnancy to the government and to the girl pupil. The analysis concluded that although pregnancy among schoolgirls is a global problem, developing countries are worse off because of the socio-economic factors that affect the level of education and the advancement in medicine. Within the developing countries the problem is more acute in rural than in urban schools. The prevalence of the problem, the authors argue, has cost implications to the government. Governments incur costs on the affected girls in different ways such as cost on unemployment, cost on the girl’s health during pre-natal care and the cost increases if they happen to have contracted the HIV virus or fall sick due to AIDS-related diseases. Additionally, cost is incurred on post-school programmes aimed at behaviour rehabilitation of the affected girls.

Full Text: PDF