Abstract:
This study was conducted to explore the psychosocial challenges experienced by
teenage student mothers in senior high schools in Asene Manso Akroso District, Ghana.
The objectives of the study were: to identify the psychosocial challenges faced by
teenage student mothers in senior high schools in the Asene Manso Akroso District;
indicate the effects of psychosocial challenges faced by these teenage student mothers
and to identify strategies that teenage student mothers in senior high schools in Asene
Manso Akroso District employ to manage their psychosocial challenges they face. The
qualitative research approach was employed to understand and explore the psychosocial
challenges experienced by teenage student mothers in senior high schools in Asene
Manso Akroso District. A sample of twelve teenage student mothers were selected from
a population of fifty-five teenage student mothers from the two senior high schools in
the district. The simple random sampling method was used to select the sample.
Interview guide was used for the data collection and content analysis was used to
analyse the data. The study found that teenage student mothers were humiliated,
ridiculed and rejected by their peers and neighbours. It was also discovered that the
teenage student mothers felt lonely and isolated as most of their friends shunned them
for fear of being classified in the same category with teen mothers. It was therefore,
recommended that guidance and counselling units in senior high schools should liaise
with school authorities to empower teenage student mothers and the Ghana Education
Service must also recruit more professionally trained counsellors to the senior high
schools in and across the country due to large numbers of teenage student mothers in
the senior high schools.It was therefore concluded that, the teenage student mothers go
through distress in the hands of their neighbours, teachers and classmates in school.
They felt ridiculed and rejected. In an attempt to overcome all these, they sorted
counselling and drawing solace from vicarious experiences.
Description:
A dissertation in the Department of Educational Foundations,
Faculty of Educational Studies, submitted to the school of
Graduate Studies, in partial fulfilment
of the requirements for the award of the degree of
Post Graduate Diploma
(Education)
in the University of Education, Winneba
