Background to the Research

• In the Spring of 1994, CROW (based at the University of Ulster) was commissioned to carry out an investigation on the topic of teenage mothers and their experiences in maintaining access, or failing to maintain access, to the school system once the fact of their pregnancy became known. The research arises from the concern of the Save the Children Fund in NI with the fate of young women who become pregnant while still completing their schooling. What opportunities are, or are not, available to enable young women in these circumstances to complete their school careers and reach their full educational potential?
  

Research Approach

• A total of 92 young women, pupils over the last three years to five years from four of the five Education and Library Board areas took part in the survey. The report analyses the patterns of their replies and quotes extensively from the comments made by the young mothers themselves. Alongside these young voices are those of educational professionals who make and implement relevant educational policy.
  

Main Findings

• Getting an education is important to the young mothers in the sample and many had managed to gain educational qualifications for themselves - not necessarily through a return to school.
• Pregnancy means long periods of absence from school - one third were away for four or five months and another third were away for even longer.
• Home tuition was available for substantial amounts of time particularly before but also after the birth.
• One in three left school around the same time that they gave birth.
• There is good practice in the school system already - nearly half said they were treated the same at school after the pregnancy was known as before, and many praised home tutors for the support that they made available.
• There is also clear cause for concern - over half felt that more should have been done for them. They said they had missed out on opportunities for schooling as a result of their pregnancy, and one in five gave accounts that indicate prejudice and maltreatment.

Main Recommendations

• DENI should set a target of reducing the proportion of school-age mothers who feel they have missed out on education from 55 per cent to 20 per cent.
• DENI should discuss with the Regional Training Unit what programme of staff development and training is required in support of the policies on school-age mothers and also invite comment from other relevant bodies on what role they might play.
• DENI should initiate discussions with the Health and Social Services Boards concerning areas of joint action that could be pursued.
• ELBs should review the varying organisational arrangements that they currently make for dealing with school-age mothers, should facilitate meetings between their Education and Welfare staff and should consider whether identification of a 'lead board' on this issue would be helpful.
• ELBs should enable EWOs, preferably as a joint activity across Boards, to develop further the recording, monitoring and review of statistics on school age mothers and in particular should encourage EWOs to devise new ways of monitoring satisfaction with the educational opportunities that are being provided.
• Save the Children Fund should devise and test a young mothers programme that could be adapted by Boards and placed alongside the Home Tuition for those young mothers who opted for it.
• Save the Children Fund should promote the idea of networking among school-age mothers and explore the feasibility of using its resources to devise and update a peer befriending scheme that could be progressively handed over to, and managed by, cohorts of young mothers themselves.