OSSAI, ANTHONY GREAT (Ph.D.)
FACULTY OF EDUCATION UNIVERSITY OF DELTA
AGBOR, DELTA STATE
NIGERIA.
Abstract.
The importance of the girl-child education cannot be over emphasized. Hence, this study
examines the effect of teenage pregnancy on the educational development of the girl-
child. The study adopted the descriptive survey design. The population of the study
comprise all the teachers and students of the 27public secondary schools in Ndokwa East
Local Government Area of Delta State. Sample of 1,000 students and 2,000 teachers
were randomly drawn from the 27 public secondary schools. Two research questions
were raised and two hypotheses were formulated, while data collection was majorly
through the use of questionnaire. In analyzing the data, the descriptive statistics
(percentage, frequency) were used to answer the research questions while the chi-square
contingency table was used to test the hypothesis at 0.05 level of significance. All the
hypotheses were accepted. The study revealed that the causes of teenage pregnancy
include: lack of parental control, poverty, peer pressure, among others. Also, it revealed
that the major effects of teenage pregnancy include: depression, self-withdrawal etc. The
study recommends amongst others that parents should be encouraged to live
harmoniously and give adequate training to their girl-child; school as an agent of
socialization should be involved in impacting knowledge to teenagers on their
interpersonal relationship, teenagers should be counseled on why they should not allow
friends and emotions affect their attitude towards sexual intercourse.
Keywords: girl-child, education, teenage pregnancy, secondary school.
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