KAJIADO, KENYA — Greenland Girls School, described as the only educational institute in Kenya dedicated to teenage mothers, is opening a second campus in Kilifi County. The school, which currently has 310 students and provides care for more than 80 of their children, is run by the nonprofit group Shining Hope for Communities.
Founded in 2015, the school has put hundreds of girls and young women through secondary education while supporting their children, from infants to toddlers. While students are in class, staff take over child care and provide mentorship for the young women. The majority of students come from Kajiado County, south of Nairobi, and many attend through grants.
Teenage pregnancy remains a persistent issue in Kenya. According to Kenyan national statistics, more than 125,000 live births in 2024 were by adolescent mothers under 19. In 2022, research group IDinsight found that unintended pregnancy was, after a lack of money for school fees, the leading cause of girls not returning to education. A 2015 study by the Population Council found that two-thirds of teenage mothers cited their pregnancy as their reason for dropping out of school.
Dr. Githinji Gitahi, chief executive of development agency Amref Health Africa, said, "Every girl who gets pregnant and drops out during their school time must be allowed reentry. 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."
Many students at the school come from difficult backgrounds; some became pregnant as a result of sexual assault or forced marriages. The school has a network of outreach officers who refer expecting mothers and seek agreement with community elders for students to attend. The school also liaises with local authorities in cases of underage marriages. In Kenya, sex involving minors under 18 is illegal, but the law is structured so only males are charged with a crime, and underage pregnancies often result in legal proceedings.
Valarie Wairimu, a 19-year-old student at the school, said, "When I found that I was pregnant, I didn't have anywhere else to go." Wairimu, who has a baby named Kayden, feeds her child between classes and has placed near the top of her class in exams. She hopes to become a doctor.
Caroline Mumbai, a caregiver at the school who has two children of her own, said, "Some of the mothers view their children as a burden. So we also teach them how to mother."
Parents of students often fail to accept their children as they are, according to the school. The school is connected to social services and is known to teachers across Kenya, including in the far west. Paul Mukilya serves as the school's manager. Some alumni have gone on to professional careers in government and medicine.