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Six million young moms in Africa are not in school — they can be

Six million young moms in Africa are not in school — they can be
Shanice Kasura, Itumeleng Senetla, Chiedza Chinakwetu, Alice Armstrong and Jane Kelly
By Shanice Kasura, Itumeleng Senetla, Chiedza Chinakwetu, Alice Armstrong and Jane Kelly
26 Jan 2025
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In sub-Saharan Africa more than six million pregnant and parenting girls are out of school – and few go back after giving birth. Here’s how the barriers to girls’ schooling can be broken down to help keep young moms in class.

For the past five years, about 130,000 adolescent girls have given birth in South Africa each year – it means one in every seven babies is born to a teenager. 

This challenge crosses South Africa’s borders. 

In east and southern Africa, a quarter of young women give birth before they’re 18, with the teen pregnancy rate in the region at 92 per 1,000 girls, twice the global average. Moreover, six in 10 girls are not in school.

Other social issues add to this: close to 80 million girls experience sexual violence before they turn 18, and about 3,100 in the 15 to 24 age group acquire HIV every week.   

Research shows that one of the best ways to help adolescent moms build a life for them and their babies is to keep them in school – and most importantly, help them to finish secondary school.  

Because when young moms finish school, they tend to have more job opportunities, and better health – for themselves and their children.

But restrictive policies, stigma and discrimination, and financial hardships can stop mothering pupils from going back to school. In fact, in sub-Saharan Africa more than six million pregnant and parenting girls are out of school – with many not going back after giving birth. 

The African Union (AU) declared 2024 the year of education in Africa, with the continent’s leaders vowing to make girls’ and women’s schooling a priority. 

Adolescent moms – an often overlooked group – need specific support, say the signatories to an AU-backed set of recommendations, declared at the 1st African Union Pan-African Conference on Girls and Women’s Education.

Having a baby before 18 can put both young mothers and their children at risk. Such moms are two to five times more likely to die during labour than women in their twenties, may drop out of school and fall pregnant again soon, and can face mental health challenges. Their babies may also die at a young age or struggle with physical and cognitive development, and have worse educational outcomes. 

What can help fulfil adolescent moms’ right to education – and unlock their potential for a continent with a brighter future? 

Set policies to help girls go back to school 


According to a 2022 Human Rights Watch report, at least 38 African countries have adopted laws or policies that ensure pregnant girls can stay in school, and go back after giving birth. 

Knowing about these rights might be protective. For instance, in Zambia, young moms who knew about their country’s re-entry policy were almost 90% less likely to leave school because of teasing or bullying and said they felt less stigmatised when they came back after giving birth.

But just knowing that girls should be able to go back to school without shame is not enough – especially among school administrators responsible for implementing these policies. A 2015 study from Kenya found that while teachers were aware of the country’s re-entry policy, they chose not to implement it, to preserve the “image” of the school.

Having support from their school could influence how easy – or difficult – it is for adolescent mothers to return to school, studies show. Teachers can make or break this, especially with evidence – from several countries – showing that these moms report being treated badly by their teachers. 

However, properly trained and empowered teachers can create an inclusive and welcoming environment through, for example, being more empathic and introducing more flexible teaching methods, such as helping with catch-up plans for missed schoolwork. An evidence-informed training toolkit planned to be field tested in South Africa to help teachers meet the needs of mothering pupils was co-developed in that country with teachers and school managers, governing bodies, community organisations, government stakeholders and young moms themselves. 

Make it easier for girls to keep on learning – and be moms at the same time


Malawi’s Zomba Programme, which paid tuition fees for schoolgoing girls in the rural Zomba district in an effort to combat HIV, not only lowered HIV rates (by 64%) but also delayed early marriage and pregnancy and encouraged girls who dropped out of school to go back to their classes. Barriers such as long commutes to school or money worries are more pronounced in the case of schoolgoing mothers, because they need to organise – and sometimes pay for – someone to look after their babies. 

When childcare services are available, young moms report experiencing greater autonomy in their decisions about continuing with school. In South Africa, research has shown that using childcare is linked with higher odds of moms being in school or having a job, passing to the next grade, having positive plans for the future and showing a healthy parenting style. Their children also tend to score better on thinking, language and motor tasks as they get older than when they were not in childcare. 

But schools alone can’t meet all the needs of adolescent mothers; other sectors need to provide support too. 

For example, an analysis of child welfare outcomes in Ethiopia (2002 to 2013) showed that the health extension programme, which addressed health education, child vaccination and family planning, helped to reduce child marriage and adolescent pregnancy, increased school enrolment, and improved children’s skills in reading and working with numbers. 

Findings from a study with adolescent girls in the Eastern Cape, including those who’ve had a baby, show that having enough to eat is linked with fewer of them engaging in transactional sex, sex while on substances and sex with an older partner – and at the same time supports school enrolment.

Help girls tap into peer support 


Having support from friends (including other young moms), parents or teachers can help girls continue their schooling. For example, in a 2022 study in Malawi, young mothers reported that all-women groups from the community worked with school staff and parents to encourage them to come back to class after giving birth. 

Across several eastern and southern African countries, peer providers – other young moms from the same community – offer mental health and social support, such as for accessing cash grants and finding alternative routes to continue learning (like vocational training) and other ways to earn their own money.

Sello Matsoso, the programme director of Help Lesotho, a nonprofit organisation that runs life skills and social support projects in the country, says they’ve seen “many positive outcomes when such support is in place, such as young mothers feeling markedly more hopeful and confident in seeking health services, more using condoms during sex, and intimate partner violence dropping by almost half”. 

The intersecting challenges that adolescent girls and mothers may face – such as HIV and violence – highlight the need for interventions that address a combination of issues, rather than just one. 

For example, in South Africa, findings show that this approach is linked to positive education and health outcomes among these young women: staying in school during pregnancy, feeling self-confident, getting friendly and respectful health services and the use of formal childcare services are linked with more condom use (55% to 66%) – thus lowering the chance of getting HIV and falling pregnant again quickly – more mothering girls progressing to the next grade (37% to 79%) as well as more going back to school after giving birth (40% to 90%).

Investing in girls’ education – also for those who have had a baby – and helping them to stay in school can unlock their potential, help them break out of poverty and build healthier and better-educated future generations.

But for this to happen, harmful social and gender norms that infringe on these girls’ rights need to be broken down so that they can be part of shaping their own future.

The AU’s commitment to inclusive education is an important step towards giving young women a brighter future, but only swift, accountable action will ensure that every girl can learn, thrive and contribute to a healthier, more equitable society. DM

Shanice Kasura is a programme officer at Unicef’s eastern and southern Africa regional office in Nairobi, focusing on projects related to HIV and sexual and reproductive health rights.

Itumeleng Senetla is a research assistant at the Centre for Social Science Research, University of Cape Town, where he focuses on policies affecting young people and school retention for pregnant and mothering adolescents.

Chiedza Chinakwetu oversees the integration of gender in programmes across 21 countries in her capacity as a gender specialist at Unicef’s east and southern Africa regional office.

Alice Armstrong is a technical specialist at Unicef’s east and southern Africa regional office, where she leads the adolescent sexual and reproductive health and HIV portfolio.  

Jane Kelly is a senior research officer at the Centre for Social Science Research, focusing on the role of support networks, services and systems in shaping the wellbeing of young people, including adolescent mothers.

This work is part of the Unicef eastern and southern Africa partnership with the universities of Cape Town and Oxford, under the Joint UN 2gether 4 SRHR programme.




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