Teenage Pregnancy and Education in Nigeria: A Philo-Sociological Management Strategy

Abstract

The focus of the 2013 World Population Day on July 11, was on “Adolescent Pregnancy”. This indicates that teenage pregnancy has global effects and implications. It has become a global problem that need be tackled through multi-sectoral approach. However, in Nigeria statistics reveals that this is a serious problem to our development as a country. This is because the relationship between teenage pregnancy and education goes in both directions. Teenagers who become pregnant are more likely to drop out of school and the teenagers that drop out of school are more likely to become pregnant. Again, the children of teen mothers are less likely to graduate from tertiary institutions (post-secondary institutions) than the children of those whose parents were older as at the time of childbearing. However, education in several ways can assist in the reduction of teenage pregnancy. This argument is anchored on the logic that education can confront and curb the various socio-economic problems that produce the fertile social conditions that aid teenage pregnancy. The paper advocates that a multi-disciplinary and multi-sectoral approach should be adopted in tackling this social and ethical menace that have the potentials to disrupt and distort the nation’s developmental frameworks.

DOI: 10.5901/jesr.2014.v4n3p41