'Te Katiteuanaaki' Kiribati for Inclusion

A room for parents: helping young mothers to study “My baby was so lucky to have her private space on campus while I continued my studies.” Emily’s husband was working and her mum helped to babysit her baby. Emily often used the room for breastfeeding. “The room is very good because it helped me to not miss out on my classes. I didn’t need to keep going home for breastfeeding, and it helped a lot in maintaining the health of my little Emma.” “I first found out about the room from people who had used it before, and I learned more during orientation from the Student Support Officer.” Emily notes that it would have been much more difficult for her to complete her studies if Kiribati Institute of Technology had not provided a parents’ room. The room resulted in a significant increase in her attendance. Emily says that the room was adequate in size and appreciated that it had a water dispenser, which provided access to clean water for her mother, child and herself. She was proud to say the challenge of being a parent and student at the same time has been greatly improved by Kiribati Institute of Technology’s provision of a parents’ room. Kiribati Institute of Technology is committed to supporting male and female students that have parenting responsibilities, and works to ensure that they can continue their studies with the support of a room for parents. This is a designated space on campus where parents can have access to sleeping mats, a quiet area, reading material for their children, and to allow privacy for breastfeeding mothers. The room is open to male and female students, but predominantly used by female students. The development of the parents’ room was based on findings from consultation with students and young mothers early in 2018 that found female students stopped attending classes due to pregnancy and childbirth. Kiribati has a high birth rate and adolescent birth rate. Emily Waysang, 22, benefited from using the parents’ room provided by Kiribati Institute of Technology. When she had her baby in her first year of study, she started using the room a week after the birth to maintain her class attendance, and continue her education. Emily took accounting classes from 2017, then pursued her Certificate IV in Accounting. She is proud to have been one of the frequent users of the parents’ room. “My [baby] Emma was so lucky to have her private space on campus while I continued my studies.” 5