Une école rare au Kenya donne aux jeunes mères l'opportunité d'accéder à l'éducation et aux soins pour leur enfant

KAJIADO, Kenya (AP) — Valerie Wairimu n’a pas de temps pour se reposer pendant la pause à l’école Greenland Girls School, au Kenya. La jeune fille attrape une collation et va directement à ce qui rend cette école unique : sa crèche.

La jeune femme de 19 ans est accueillie par une équipe de nounous qui surveillent son bébé, Kayden, pendant qu’elle l’allaite entre les cours.

L’école est le seul établissement éducatif au Kenya dédié aux mères adolescentes et elle prend en charge les enfants de nombreuses d’entre elles. Pour ses 310 élèves et plus de 80 enfants, des nourrissons aux tout-petits, Greenland représente une deuxième chance à l’école, sans stigmatisation et, selon des experts, un modèle sur la manière dont de jeunes mères peuvent être réintégrées à la scolarité.

« Quand j’ai découvert que j’étais enceinte, je n’avais nulle part où aller », a déclaré Wairimu, qui se classe parmi les meilleures de sa classe aux examens à Greenland et qui espère devenir médecin.

L’école internat a été fondée en 2015 et a permis à des centaines de filles et de jeunes femmes de poursuivre des études secondaires tout en soutenant leurs enfants. Certaines ont ensuite mené des carrières professionnelles couronnées de succès, notamment dans la fonction publique et la médecine.

L’école est gérée par l’organisation à but non lucratif Shining Hope for Communities et de nombreux élèves y sont admis grâce à des subventions.

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The majority of students come from surrounding Kajiado County, south of Nairobi, where the school has a network of outreach officers who can refer expecting mothers.

The school also is connected to social services and known to teachers across Kenya, including in the far west where Wairimu is from. She was living in a family with a single father and younger brother and unable to afford to care for a newborn. Her grandmother was aware of the school and had Wairimu referred.

Many of the students are from difficult backgrounds and some became pregnant as a result of sexual assault, as well as forced marriages.

Paul Mukilya, the school’s manager, said parents often are not supportive and the school’s outreach officers are left to seek agreement with community elders for students to attend.

« Some of the challenges which the students encounter are the family and the community. Most of them have failed to accept them the way they are, » Mukilya said. « When they come here, we take them through psychological counseling and mentorship. »

Sex involving minors — those under 18 — is illegal in Kenya, but the law is structured so only males are charged with a crime. Underage pregnancies often end up in court and Greenland supports its students and liaises with local authorities, especially in cases of underage marriages.

While students are in class, the school’s staff take over child care and provide mentorship for the young women.

« Some of the mothers view their children as a burden, » said Caroline Mumbai, a caregiver at Greenland who has two children of her own. « So we also teach them how to mother. »

Making education accessible for teenage mothers is a challenge in Kenya and a mounting task for a country with a fast-growing young population. More than 125,000 live births in 2024 were by adolescent mothers under 19, according to Kenyan national statistics.

The Population Council, a health and development think tank, found in 2015 that two-thirds of teenage mothers cited their pregnancy as their reason for dropping out of school. As recently as 2022, research group IDinsight found unintended pregnancy was, after a lack of money for school fees, the leading cause of girls not returning to education.

Responding to demand from Kenya’s coastal regions, Greenland Girls School is opening a second campus in Kilifi County.

« Every girl who gets pregnant and drops out during their school time must be allowed reentry, » said Dr. Githinji Gitahi, chief executive of development agency Amref Health Africa. « Special schools are important in supplementing the general scalable policy framework. We should focus on these schools that are helping to close the equity gap. »

Greenland students say they also appreciate an environment free from stigma, which encourages learning.

« People used to judge me because I got pregnant, » said Mary Wanjiku, 20, whose son is almost 18 months old. She now hopes to become a lawyer.

« The moment I came here, I was received with love, » she said.

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