Does school attendance reduce the risk of youth homelessness in Tanzania?

Mario Mueller,Robert Henley,Kate Mcalpine,Stefan Vetter

doi:10.1186/1752-4458-4-28

Mario Mueller, Robert Henley + Show 2 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.1186/1752-4458-4-28

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Abstract

BackgroundThis paper is based on data gathered from a 2006 survey of 1,098 "street children" in Northern Tanzania. It examines the role that school may play in preventing the migration of vulnerable youth to become homeless "street children". Specific focus is placed on the correlations found between children's attendance in school, their reports of abuse or support in their family, and their status of living "on the street" full-time or part-time.MethodsThis study is from quantitative interview data gathered from 1,098 children and youth between 5 and 24 years old on the streets of Moshi and Arusha, Tanzania, over a 48-hour period during the school year on October 26th and 27th, 2006. Respondents were given survey questions about their home, school and street life experiences, in order to measure the impact of outreach work being performed by a Tanzanian NGO. Interviewers used purposive sampling, approaching all young people who appeared to be under the age of 25 years within a number of precincts in each town known to be where 'street children' were known to congregate.ResultsResults suggest that regular attendance in school may be a significant protective factor for children in preventing migration to the street life. Statistical analysis revealed that those young people who dropped out of school had nearly 8 times higher chances for ending up on the streets permanently than those who attended school daily.ConclusionsThis study supports the new concept of "multi-layered social resilience", providing evidence from research completed by one NGO on how community-based organizations can help enhance resilience in a broader social context, spanning individuals, households and community structures.

Highlights

This paper is based on data gathered from a 2006 survey of 1,098 “street children” in Northern Tanzania
Individual psychosocial resilience Conceptually, this paper examines the influence that school attendance has on children and youth from the theoretical framework of individual “resilience”
Ethics Review The census-survey was conducted with the approval of the local Moshi and Arusha Government Social Welfare departments in northern Tanzania, who believed that the information gained by interviewing homeless children was a significant public health benefit

Summary

Introduction

This paper is based on data gathered from a 2006 survey of 1,098 “street children” in Northern Tanzania. It examines the role that school may play in preventing the migration of vulnerable youth to become homeless “street children”. Specific focus is placed on the correlations found between children’s attendance in school, their reports of abuse or support in their family, and their status of living “on the street” full-time or part-time. As a response to this epidemic of youth homelessness internationally, organizations tend to focus on offering services to assist these “street children” with a goal of removing them from the streets and re-integrating them with their families and communities. Mkombozi has offered a variety of outreach services to prevent children coming to the streets, collaborating with local families, schools and community leaders to identify youth who may be vulnerable of becoming homeless and establishing community support mechanisms. Mkombozi’s efforts illustrate how NGO’s can contribute to building equitable development and longterm poverty eradication for citizens of all ages in lowincome countries

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