{"id":70814,"date":"2016-06-01T02:47:49","date_gmt":"2016-06-01T00:47:49","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/free-sanitary-towels-could-help-keep-tanzanian-girls-in-school-the-conversation\/"},"modified":"2016-06-01T02:47:49","modified_gmt":"2016-06-01T00:47:49","slug":"free-sanitary-towels-could-help-keep-tanzanian-girls-in-school-the-conversation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/free-sanitary-towels-could-help-keep-tanzanian-girls-in-school-the-conversation\/","title":{"rendered":"Free sanitary towels could help keep Tanzanian girls in school | The Conversation"},"content":{"rendered":"

Free sanitary towels could help keep Tanzanian girls in school<\/a>: <\/p>\n

Many girls stay away from school when they're menstruating.<\/span> Finbarr O'Reilly\/Reuters<\/span><\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

In the world\u2019s poorer countries and rural areas \u2013 most particularly in Africa and Asia \u2013 girls who are menstruating usually can\u2019t afford sanitary towels. Instead, they\u2019ll use old rags. Worse, some will use unhygienic substances like sand, sawdust, leaves or ash. And, no matter what they use as sanitary material, they\u2019re very likely to skip school during their periods.<\/p>\n

Research has estimated that one in ten African adolescent girls misses school while menstruating. Many eventually drop out because of menstruation-related issues. These include the fact that affordable sanitary protection isn\u2019t easy to access, the social taboos related to menstruation and the culture of silence that surrounds it.<\/p>\n

Part of the research I\u2019m doing for my PhD in education relates to whether providing free sanitary towels to girls in Tanzania\u2019s poor areas \u2013 particularly in informal urban settlements \u2013 could improve school attendance. Research elsewhere on the continent has shown that this ought to be the case.<\/p>\n

Growth of urban informal settlements<\/h2>\n

Informal urban settlements are increasingly common in Tanzania, as they are in many African countries. There\u2019s often minimal sanitation and low levels of hygiene in such settlements, as they are overcrowded and lack formal infrastructure. Their residents are very vulnerable to outbreaks of water-borne diseases like cholera.<\/p>\n

Women and children tend to be most affected by this lack of hygiene. Researchers have pointed out that many reproductive infections are potentially triggered by poor menstrual hygiene management. These diseases can, if left unchecked, make women more vulnerable to complications in pregnancy and childbirth.<\/p>\n

As these settlements grow, so does the demand for schooling in and around them. In Dar es Salaam\u2019s Manzese informal settlement for instance, there are more than 25 primary and secondary schools. These are surrounded by congested makeshift houses with poor drainage systems. Most of the schools have very few toilets or latrines \u2013 certainly not enough for all pupils and teachers.<\/p>\n

Education is free at both primary and secondary level in Tanzania. That\u2019s what the policy says, at least. In reality, while parents don\u2019t have to pay tuition fees, they do bear the costs of things like textbooks, uniforms and bus fare.<\/p>\n

Worse still, the country\u2019s ambitious \u201cfree education\u201d programme doesn\u2019t consider the issue of menstrual health. It has not, for instance, made sanitary towels available to school girls \u2013 whether for free or at a subsidised rate. Providing these towels is a key way to keep girls in school, as research from neighbouring Kenya has proved. This is a matter of some concern for Tanzanian authorities and education experts: the drop-out rate among girls is high, with many never enrolling in secondary school.<\/p>\n

There is no focused nationwide campaign to improve this situation. One pilot project is providing affordable sanitary towels in seven of Tanzania\u2019s 100 schooling districts. Sometimes private philanthropists will provide a school of their choice with free sanitary towels. Such interventions are fine in the short term. But Tanzania urgently needs proper policies about menstruation and sanitary towels that will help the country\u2019s girls and young women.<\/p>\n

Again, neighbouring Kenya provides some guidance in this regard: in one of that country\u2019s major informal settlements, Kiandutu, the state broadcasting corporation introduced and led a campaign that donated sanitary towels to adolescent girls every month for a year.<\/p>\n

Recommendations<\/h2>\n

There are a few ways for Tanzania to tackle this important issue proactively. For instance, the country should start looking at low-cost local production methods for sanitary towels. Imports cost money and this might make any programme unsustainable in the long term. If the government works with vocational and training colleges, it could deal with two issues: the need for cheap but hygienic sanitary towels and the need to create jobs. Poor, unemployed women could be taught to make these products.<\/p>\n

Tanzania parliamentarians also need to display political will. When the next year\u2019s education budget is prepared, policymakers and education practitioners should push for a special fund that will support nationwide free sanitary towels. Of course it\u2019s not menstrual issues alone that keep girls out of school, and work is needed in other areas to ensure that attendance improves. But a proper, politically backed policy is crucial if the country is really serious about keeping girls in school and not letting a biological fact of life hold them back.<\/p>\n

\"The <\/p>\n

Agatha Isingo does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond the academic appointment above.<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

Source:<\/strong> The Conversation \u2013 Articles (AFRICA)<\/a><\/small>
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Read more on The Conversation<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Join the fun:<\/strong> Add Your event<\/a> | Submit a Press Release<\/a> | Add your listing<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Free sanitary towels could help keep Tanzanian girls in school: Many girls stay away from school when they're menstruating. Finbarr O'Reilly\/Reuters In the world\u2019s poorer countries and rural areas \u2013 most particularly in Africa and Asia \u2013 girls who are menstruating usually can\u2019t afford sanitary towels. Instead, they\u2019ll use old rags. Worse, some will use […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[4584],"tags":[8890,4425,3053,2010,6223,5122,14155,3448,14157,14156],"class_list":{"0":"post-70814","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-africa-news-2","7":"tag-conversation","8":"tag-could","9":"tag-free","10":"tag-girls","11":"tag-help","12":"tag-keep","13":"tag-sanitary","14":"tag-school","15":"tag-tanzanian","16":"tag-towels","17":"entry"},"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/70814","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=70814"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/70814\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=70814"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=70814"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=70814"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}