The coalition of civil society organisations in Gombe State, Northeast Nigeria, has recommended the provision of sanitary pads as a strategy to boost girl-child enrolment in schools across the state.
Development Diaries gathered that the coordinator of the coalition, Hajiya Zariyatu Abubakar, made the recommendation during an advocacy visit, which was sponsored by Save the Children International, to the Gombe State Coordinator of Better Education Service Delivery for All (BESDA).
Abubakar said key issues needed to be addressed in schools to help boost girl-child enrolment to help them acquire education.
She stressed that issues tied to unavailability of sanitary pads, lack of water and other sanitation facilities could discourage the girls from getting the education they deserve.
‘If contraceptives can be provided for people to use when they choose to have sex, there should be no reason why sanitary pads cannot be provided for girls, who cannot make a choice about menstruation’, she said.
‘The state government will do well to provide female students/pupils sanitary pads to encourage them to stay in schools. There are girls who miss school because of menstruation, to avoid embarrassment.
‘We appeal and recommend that sanitary pads, a good wash and toilet facilities be provided in schools. It has been confirmed that these issues actually keep some girls away from schools; so government should step in in this regard’.
Abubakar further urged the state government to engage more female tutors, providing counterpart funds for the training scheme for female facilitators sponsored by the United Nations International Children’s Fund (UNICEF) for which it has fulfilled its pledge of paying 50 percent.
In his response, the Coordinator of BESDA, Dr Abdullahi Ahmad, appreciated the team’s effort and pledged that his agency was ready to contribute to improving the quality of education in the state.
He said, ‘We have a budget of 300 female facilitators, and we are trying to see the areas where they are needed for intervention’.
Source: NAN
Photo source: Scott Chacon
