Include Free Sanitary Pads in the Free SHS Policy: Students appeals to Govt.

Some female students of Baware D/A Basic School in the Eastern Region of Ghana have appealed to the government to include free sanitary pads in the Free Compulsory Universal Basic Education (FCUBE), and the Free Senior High School (SHS) policy which is currently being run by the state.

They maintained that the provision of free sanitary pads to adolescent girls will encourage more girls to be in school during menstruation.

The students made the appeal at a day’s Policy Dialogue forum on Menstrual Hygiene Management (MHM) which was held at the Coconut Grove Regency Hotel in Accra on Wednesday, June 30, 2021.

A representative of the school, Miss Esther Mintaah who spoke on behalf of the female student during the Policy Dialogue forum narrated the ordeal many young adolescent girls are going especially those in the rural communities.

According to her, many of her fellow female students who did not have access to sanitary products managed their menses using unhygienic items like newspapers, pieces of dirty cloth, leaves, among others.

She further noted that due to the unhygienic items used during menstruation most of the girls stain their uniforms and often get exposed to public ridicule. This she said had driven away lots of girls from the classroom.

Miss Mintaah sadly explained to the shock of participants at the forum how lots of teenage girls have been impregnated by some Okada riders and commercial drivers because they went soliciting money to buy sanitary pads.

“These riders and drivers mostly demand sex in exchange for the little money they give to these innocent girls,” she disclosed.

Miss Mintaah told the gathering her school ‘Baware D/A Basic School’ used to have high female absenteeism but due to the intervention of Plan International, Ghana, the situation has improved drastically.

“Plan International, Ghana has provided our school with a complete WASH facility comprising water system, a girl-friendly toilet, and changing rooms, and a quarterly supply of free sanitary pads” she announced.

“It is from this great experience that we call on the government to include free distribution of sanitary pads into the FCUBE and Free SHS Policy” Miss Mintaah reiterated.

The representative of Baware D/A Basic School opined that she and her colleagues want more favorable conditions for the many women and girls in Ghana without access to basic information on menstrual hygiene management, dignified toilets, safe water and safe sanitary hygiene materials.

Source: Franklin ASARE-DONKOH

Writer’s email: [email protected]