Stakeholders Call For Dedicated Menstrual Hygiene Facilties To Keep Girls In School.
The Tema Metro Education Directorate has called on stakeholders and development partners to support the provision of dedicated menstrual hygiene facilities in schools to help safeguard the dignity and education of girls.
The Girl/Boy Child Coordinator of the Directorate, Valeria Vuley, says the absence of appropriate changing rooms and sanitary facilities in some schools makes it difficult for girls to manage their menstruation comfortably while in school.
She is appealing for the provision of designated changing rooms equipped with running water and sanitary pads to enable girls to change, clean up and confidently return to the classroom without compromising their dignity.
She was speaking at the fourth edition of the Clean the Red Sanitary Pad Project, organised by Chalk Talk Foundation Africa.
The annual Clean the Red Project seeks to promote menstrual hygiene awareness, build confidence among schoolgirls and provide sanitary pads to girls both in schools and communities.
Ms Vuley said some girls are forced to stay away from school during their menstrual periods because there are no changing rooms and that makes them uncomfortable coming to school and some can’t also afford the sanitary pads.
She called on authorities and benevolent organisations to provide schools with changing rooms to make menstruating girls comfortable in schools
Founder and Executive Director of Chalk Talk Foundation Africa, Richard Kwabena Nsarkoh, explained the rational behind the project whilst appealing to government, women’s empowerment organisations and sanitary pad manufacturing companies to support the initiative.
He noted that expanding the project’s reach to more communities requires substantial financial and material resources, making stakeholder support critical to its sustainability and growth.
Some students who benefited from the initiative expressed appreciation for the intervention, describing it as helpful in addressing their menstrual hygiene needs and enabling them to remain focused on their education.
REPORTERER: AHIABOR AUGUSTINE.
