Nairobi — School heads fear allowing the return to school of girls who give birth because of the stigma associated with having mothers in a student environment.

At the launch of a report on teenage pregnancy and schoolgirl dropout Tuesday, school heads talked of ostracism faced by schools that have implemented a Ministry of Education policy on readmitting students who give birth. "Other schools derogatorily refer to institutions that accept teenage mothers as maternity schools, and openly encourage isolation of our students in social gatherings," a Nairobi private school head said.

To send signals

She said private schools were usually under pressure from parents to avoid girls who become pregnant because it is likely to send signals to the other girls that it is alright to give birth in school.

The school heads say readmitted girls are usually avoided in school because they happen to be older and avoid extra curricular activities. Ms Ritta Okeyo, a principal of Nyamasare Secondary School in Mbita, one of the schools that are implementing the readmission policy, says the resistance is partly because the Ministry of Education has failed to sensitise school heads properly about the new programme.

"Instead of engaging the school administrators through discussion, the ministry simply sent them a policy document asking them to readmit the teenage mothers," she said.