Educational support systems for teenage mothers in public basic schools in the Ajumako Enyan Esiam District of the Central Region of Ghana

The purpose of the study was to explore educational support systems for teenage mothers in public basic schools in the AjumakoEnyanEsiam District of the Central Region of Ghana. We employed qualitative study which was based on phenomenology. The population of the study was teenage mothers and some selected heads of the various schools where the teenage mothers were schooling. The snowballing and purposive sampling procedure was used to select 5 teenage mothers and 4 heads of schools respectively. In all, a total of 9 participants were interviewed for the study. All participants were met in their various schools for the interviews. The main instrument for data collection for the study was semi-structured interview schedule. The interview data were transcribed, coded, and analysed thematically. The thematic analysis was done based on the data transcribed and the research questions. The findings of the study showed that challenges student-mothers face as they re-enroll into the formal public basic school system were difficulty in concentrating on their studies, financial constraints, absenteeism, stigmatization, and lateness to school. Finally, the study showed that educational support systems available to participants as they re-enroll in school were; financial support, provision of stationary, remedial lessons, and provision of counseling services. Based on the findings, the following recommendations were made; Since teenage mothers are still desirous of pursuing their career ambitions, all necessary support in terms of financial and social assistance should be made available in our various schools for these mothers. Policy makers, non-governmental organization and corporate bodies should all come on board to contribute their quota to achieving this feat.