Attitudes of educators towards teenage pregnancy

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to investigate the nature of educators' attitudes towards teenage pregnancy in secondary schools of the Province of KwaZulu-Natal (KZN), South Africa. This was in response to the KZN circular 116 of 2000, which seemed to give more rights to pregnant learners. Subjects were educators (n=97) from twenty secondary schools. The study further investigated the relationship (if any) that existed between the educators??? attitudes towards teenage pregnancy and various educators' characteristics such as age, gender, religious affiliation, educational level and their teaching experience. A questionnaire was developed and administered to the selected sample. The findings indicated that educators had positive attitudes and were sympathetic towards pregnant teenagers, but displayed reservations about the level of skills they possessed with regard to helping teenagers in times of emergency (like delivery) in the classroom. The study formulated some recommendations that the researchers thought would strengthen the relationship between educators and pregnant teenagers in schools.