School Preparedness and Retention of Teen Mothers in Schools in West Pokot County, Kenya

Millions of children world over, are deprived of their right to education and among them teen mothers’ exclusion. Thus, Kenya government responded to issue of learner exclusion especially teen mothers by formulating re-entry policy that allows teen mothers retention in schools. The situation is worse in West Pokot County one of Arid and Semi-Arid Counties where the prevalence of teen mothers’ rate is higher than national averages which can worsen high disparity rate between boys and girls. Thus, there is need of the urgent interventions for retention of teen mothers in schools to enable teen mothers enjoy education opportunities. The study evaluated influence school preparedness on retention of teen mothers in West Pokot County, Kenya. The research is based on Resiliency theory. The research focused on 1205 individuals categorized as principals, guidance and counseling teachers, and teenage mothers in West Pokot County, Kenya. The research used a descriptive design and gathered quantitative data through questionnaires, while qualitative data was collected through interview schedules. The survey was employed to gather quantitative data from guidance and counseling teachers, and teen mother learners, while the interview schedule gathered qualitative data from principals. The supervisors and expert from Educational Planning and Management verified the credibility of data collection tools, while reliability was assessed through Cronbach alpha. Descriptive statistics helped to summarize sample characteristics like means, frequencies, and standard deviation, while inferential statistics determined relationships between independent and dependent variables (regression and correlation) using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences. The study established that school preparedness had positive significant influence on retention of teen mothers. The study recommends that schools should make learning environment friendly to retention of teen mothers. Lastly, the government and other supporting agencies should increase support for teen mothers to improve their retention in Secondary Schools in Kenya. Key words: School preparedness, Retention of teen mothers.