The Right to Return, But the Right to Belong? Adolescent Pregnancy, School Re-Entry and Educational Inclusion in Zimbabwe: A Counselling Psychology Perspective

This literature study provides an in-depth critique of the Zimbabwean progressive re-entry policy and the situation of adolescent mothers' education. The goal is to highlight the importance of psychological belonging to school readiness and successful reintegration – not only legal compliance. While most literature focuses on policy compliance, there is little consideration given to the complex socio-emotional challenges and the relatively underresearch area of counselling psychology in creating inclusive school climates. It is a literature review that is concept oriented. Peer-reviewed journal articles, policy documents, and grey literature were systematically searched to collect data between 2010 and 2025. To analyse emergent psychosocial patterns thematisation was undertaken. A significant findings were that pervasive stigma and lack of psychological support deeply negatively affect the re-entry process, leading many times to secondary dropout. We strongly recommend to build up mandatory and trauma-informed counseling in school re-entry procedures along with peer-support networks. The ethical implications of research include preserving confidentiality and anonymity to protect the anonymity of the returnees from community-based discrimination.

Keywords: Adolescent pregnancy, Counseling Psychology, Educational inclusion, Re-entry policy, School readiness.