The Efficiency of Advocacy Communication in Reducing Teenage Pregnancies in Mixed Secondary Schools in Chesumei Sub-County, Nandi County.

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to find out the efficiency of advocacy communication in reducing teenage pregnancies in mixed Secondary Schools in Chesumei Sub-County, Nandi County. The study objectives were: to explore the different advocacy strategies used to combat teenage pregnancies among mixed secondary schools in Chesumei, establish the efficacy of various advocacy communication efforts used in combatting teen pregnancies, find out if there are gaps in knowledge and practise of existing communication advocacy communication for teen pregnancy reduction efforts in Chesumei Sub-County. A purposive sample of 212 students and 3 advocacy officials was selected. This study used questionnaire and an interview guide to collect data based on the objectives of the study. The Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) software version 25 was used to analyse the quantitative data and qualitative data was analysed by grouping the data into various themes as per the research questions and objectives. The study findings showed that, (65%) of the respondents reported learning about teenage pregnancy during visits from organizations to their school. It also established that different advocacy communication methods were used to facilitate understanding of teen pregnancies with the most popular being sex education talks by experts. This study concluded that although different advocacy communication methods were used to address teen pregnancies only 27% of the respondents found advocacy to be effective. The study strongly recommends evaluation of the tools used in advocacy communication and integrating SRH in the school curriculum. Further study to be conducted in other counties to provide an opportunity for comparative understanding from different study locations