Motherhood in Childhood

decreased the chances of their marrying and having
children.
In a later study in Kenya, Duflo et al. (2011)
found that simply providing children with school
uniforms was sufficient to increase enrolment,
reduce the drop-out rate by 18 per cent and lower
the pregnancy rate by 17 per cent. “The children
already enrolled in sixth grade classes were given
a free uniform. Implementers also announced
that students still enrolled in school the following
year would be eligible for a second uniform, and
distributed uniforms again the following year.”
(Duflo et al., 2011) The reduction in the number
of pregnancies, however, occurred “entirely
through a reduction in the number of pregnancies
within marriage” as “there was no change in
the out-of-wedlock pregnancy rate.” This finding
suggests that education’s protective power lay in
its ability to reduce child marriage rates, which in
turn helped reduce adolescent pregnancy. Duflo
et al. concluded that “giving girls…the opportunity
to go to school if they want to do so is an
extremely powerful (and inexpensive) way
to reduce teen fertility.”
Girls reap many immediate and long-term benefits
from education, which, during adolescence, is
a necessary first step for girls to overcome a history
of disadvantage in civic life and paid employment
(Lloyd, 2009). Enhancing the quality and
relevance of learning opportunities for adolescents
can prepare and empower girls for a range of adult
roles beyond the traditional roles of homemaker,
mother, and spouse, with benefits not just for the
girls, but also for their families and communities.
Being in school along with boys during adolescence
fosters greater gender equality in the daily
lives of adolescents. Education for adolescent girls
helps them avoid early pregnancies, and lowers
their risk of HIV/AIDS.
While primary education is a basic need for
all, secondary education offers greater prospects
of remunerative employment, with girls receiving
substantially higher returns in the workplace
than boys when both complete secondary school.
Gupta et al. (2008) found that “education
continues to be the single most important predictor
of age at marriage over time.” School
enrolment has a protective value in that school
girls are “seen as children and not of marriageable
age” (Marcus and Page, 2013). According to one
study in Kenya (Duflo et al., 2011), “once one
leaves school, sex and marriage are expected.”
Decades of research have shown that education
and schooling are key factors for not only
reducing the risk of early sexual initiation,
pregnancy, and early childbearing, but also for
increasing the likelihood that adolescents will
use condoms and other forms of contraception if
they do have sexual intercourse (Blum, 2004).
Other actions, such as conditional cash transfers,
aimed at keeping girls in school have also
protected girls from pregnancy. Conditional
cash transfers are regular monthly or bi-monthly
payments, which are contingent on families
availing themselves of basic services, such as
school, primary health care, sexual and reproductive
health services, or free awareness-raising
or education sessions.
Malawi, for example, piloted a conditional
cash transfer programme to encourage girls
in the Zomba district to stay in school or to
encourage recent dropouts to resume their education.
Zomba has a high dropout rate, low
educational attainment, and the country’s highest
HIV prevalence rates among women ages
15 to 49. Through the Zomba programme,
households received a $10 monthly transfer,
equivalent to about 15 per cent of the
60 CHAPTER 4: TAKING ACTION