AFRICA CONNECT
Tag My School Magazine//1st issue
July - September 2017
School girls to get free sanitary pads from Government in Kenya
Refilwe Mereyotlhe
In 2016, UN report estimated that one in 10 girls in Sub-Saharan Africa is absent from school during their menstrual cycle.
On 21 June Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta signed the new bill into law on free Sanitary pads for school girls.
The new law will help minimize the absenteeism of school girls that often miss school far more than their male counter-parts. It will provide dignity to female learners. This is the law: “The Basic Education Amendment Act amends Basic Education Act, placing the responsibility of providing free, sufficient and quality sanitary towels to every girl child registered and enrolled in a public basic education institution and has reached puberty, on the government,” it states.
Majority of African households live below poverty lines, this means that not all female learners can enjoy dignity during their menstrual cycles.
We spoke to 3 high school girls from South Africa who shared their views with us and here is what they had to say:
Matlakala Setlhabi: “I think that’s a very good move by the Kenyan government, wish all African States could do the same”
Onalo Nfene: “it’s not a nice thing for a girl to miss school because of they’re on their period, it would be great to have more people besides the government help”.
Refilwe Cliff: “I know the pain of not having sanitary towels, so it’s very cool for Kenya to put the needs of women first”.
Should the South African Government do the same for our girls?
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