Time to address menstrual needs of the girl child – Krachi East MP advocates

The Member of Parliament (MP) for Krachi East of the Volta Region and Executive Director of Smiling Heart Foundation, Hon Michael Yaw Gyato has noted that girls education needs to be promoted not only through enrollment and completion but through regular attendance as well.

He said a number of factors both domestic and psychological affect consistent attendance by girls to school and these factors need to be addressed.

According to him UNICEF-Ghana report estimates that one (1) in every ten (10) menstruating girls skips school four (4) to five (5) days and completely drops out.

“A girl absent from school due to menstruation for four (4) of every 28 days cycle loses 6 learning days and more than 104 hours of school contact hours every term,” he stated.

Hon Gyato was speaking at a ceremony to launch the Foundation’s project dubbed 'Pad a Rural Girl Today,' where he averred that most adolescent girls drop out of school after they begin menstruating because of inadequate menstrual hygiene like sanitary pads and those who remain in school are absent on an average of 4 days a month.

The Foundation through its project distributed 2400 packs of pads to school girls for the 1st phase of the project across the municipality.
“We hope to do more for our girls to have a feel of a hygienic sanitary pad and also to help in communities where accessibility and affordability is a challenge.”

Hon Gyato said menstruation is a salient issue because it has a pronounced effect on the quality and enjoyment of education for girls than other aspects of puberty.

He also noted that access to Menstrual Hygiene Materials, latrines and places of change, safe water and soap among others are problems girls face in their menstrual periods.

He said: “Knowing very well that these basic necessities mentioned above are inadequate in our Municipality, we believe that in no time we shall surely get there. Like the old adage “there is always a step forward to every journey”
He averred that the Foundation has received immense support from benevolent organisations and individuals towards the project and expressed gratitude to them.

On his part, the Municipal Director of Krachi East, also said the practical challenge of managing menstruation in in adolescent girls in low-income settings is compounded with socio-cultural factors that include negative perceptions of menses.

According to her, the subject of poor menstrual hygiene has been neglected and overlooked, not only by the water sector, but by the health and education sectors as well.

She noted that, although the topic is finally gaining attention in the international development communities and in Ghana, the lives of girls and women continue to be adversely affected by a range of barriers that militate against their ability to practice acceptable menstrual hygiene management (MHM).

She said: “Education of girls is inherently an important objective in terms of gender equality, but female education also intersects with a number of health and development outcomes such as contraceptive use, fertility, maternal death, child survival as well as wider economic benefit, particularly in low-resource settings. Clearly, MHM is related to water, sanitation, hygiene and reproductive health, but it is also linked to the issue of gender inequality, and closing the gender gap in education.”



She averred that the potential negative impact that inadequate MHM has on the schooling experience of adolescent girls due to structural and gender-discriminatory factors in their school environment has become a major concern to all, stressing that Girls’ Education and the onset of menstruation collide as girls make their way through.

She suggested that, to ensure girls’ successful academic outcomes, we need a better understanding of the barriers to MHM in school and how these barriers have the potential to disrupt a girl’s education



She revealed that Ghana Education Service is doing well in its capacity to tackle Menstrual Hygiene Management, and encouraged all to help develop and improve the education in Krachi East and Ghana as a whole.