Assessment report of the implementation and effectiveness of re-entry policy of adolescent pregnant school girls in Zanzibar.

According to WHO (2020) Adolescent pregnancies are a global problem occuring in high-, middle-, and low-income countries. Around the world, however, adolescent pregnancies are more likely to occur in marginalized communities, commonly driven by poverty and lack of education and employment opportunities. Pregnancy in many African cultures is a blessing; however, when it happens unexpectedly to an adolescent student and under the control of her parents, it becomes an unwanted social abomination. It is therefore safe to claim that Adolescent pregnancies remain a major challenge in both developed and developing countries. Early and unintended pregnancies among adolescents are associated with several adverse health, educational, social and economic consequences. Adolescent premarital pregnancies is a social sensitive issue in Islamic communities. Despite Islam being a religion that prohibits pre-marital sex and one that does not legitimise pregnancies as a result of such intercourse, the reality is that some Muslim adolescents engage in sexual activities before being legally wed. Zanzibar is a country that is no exception in facing this issue. Like other Muslim countries, cultural values, religion and traditions of Zanzibar do not accept premarital pregnancies, and is being considered one among individual's immense indicators of moral decay in Zanzibar. Children that have been brought by this system are reluctantly accepted by the society and are not totally involved or introduced as part of family members. Community and religious leaders for long time have traditionally do their efforts to educate society against teenage and adolescent pregnancies. The government, on the other hand, has enacted several laws and regulations to minimize or to totally get rid of this social problem. Beside those efforts, however, the situation has become worse, since the consequences of this problem has direct impact to education. Adolescent female learners get pregnancy while they are at school, which directly affect their education. The Revolutionary Government of Zanzibar (RGoZ) plays multiple roles in adolescent pregnancies prevention and intervention. Additionally RGoZ ensures all school girls who were impregnated go back to school after delivery. The intention of the government "needs those young mothers to obtain education and skills to participate and work for social economic development". To initiate this role, the government has established the Chapter of Emerging Challenges within the Education Policy (2006) then the School re-entry for impregnated adolescent female learners is a policy Statement stated on page 58 with a code of 8.4 with the subtitle "Gender" which is used as a guide to educational system in all education setting for adolescent learners who become young mother. Since this policy statement is implemented, however, its outcome has not yet led to government prospect. There is the dire need to assess its implementation and effectiveness of the re-entry policy on pregnant adolescent learners in Zanzibar in order to investigate areas of gaps for intervention and for improvement.