Lack of proper sanitation facilities, separate washrooms for girls and absence of awareness around menstrual health makes it difficult for young girls to attend school regularly.
A 2015 report by Dasra stated that nearly 23 million girls drop out of school annually in India. The gap in the availability of safe menstrual hygiene products and proper sanitation facilities in the schools leads to a large number of girls skipping school. Therefore maintaining adequate hygiene, both sanitary and easily accessible becomes a priority in government schools. Young girls of the reproductive age need access to soft and hygienic products that do not deteriorate their health in the long term.
The problem of skipping school also goes way deeper than just the lack of facilities available. There still exists a major stereotype around menstruation, and women often fear embarrassment during that period. There is also a conversational gap between the children and their parents about menstruation.
In a survey by Youth Ki Awaaz, it was found out that only 24% of the total respondents were comfortable talking about periods with their family. Thus, the lack of proper conversation around menstruation acts as a catalyst for these myths.
A Shift Going Forward?
Aditi Kumar, a government school teacher in Haryana, mentioned that the sanitary conditions are fast improving in the schools. In the school she teaches in Panchkula, hygiene is considered of utmost importance. The staff is divided into different houses, and everyone is allotted various sanitary duties.
For menstrual hygiene, a vending machine has been installed where the girls can buy sanitary pads at a subsidised rate. One of the striking features of the schools is that they have their own sanitary pad disposal machine. There are separate dustbins kept for used menstrual waste, and that waste is later disposed of using an incinerator.
Recently, the government schools in cities like Vadodara and Chandigarh got sanitary napkin vending machines and incinerators for free to promote menstrual hygiene among adolescent girls. Even in Haryana, girls before the age of 18 are guaranteed to get free sanitary napkins through the government school authorities.
She also mentioned how there had been regular classes to create awareness around menstruation and dismiss the taboos. The seminars about busting the menstrual myths have so far been successful in giving the girls the right information about periods. It is important to provide continued knowledge through seminars and workshops to enact change in the mindset of people properly.
Although the workshops conducted were intricately designed to let the girls be aware of menstruation, they rarely touched other topics like the mood swings due to premenstrual syndrome(PMS), menopause and conditions like PCOS and PCOD. The discourse around menstruation should be much more comprehensive than just letting people know of its existence. We need to incorporate a more inclusive curriculum about menstruation to be taught in school.
What About Rural Schools?
Apart from this, government schools in rural villages or marginalised areas lack even basic facilities like clean drinking water and washrooms. The condition of government schools in the cities is fast improving, but the on-ground reality in rural areas remains the same.
In another school situated in Shahzadpur, Ambala, even separate washrooms for girls are unavailable. The tap water is unfit for drinking, and no menstrual hygiene of any sort is followed. As a result, mostly boys attend that school. This becomes a difficult task for female teachers as well to maintain their hygiene.
Menstrual hygiene is an issue that needs to be addressed at all levels. One way of achieving this is by providing schools with safe drinking water, improved sanitation facilities and hygiene education that encourages the development of healthy habits. The strategic approach of Water, Sanitation and Hygiene Education (WASH) needs to be given priority in schools.
The author is a part of the current batch of the #PeriodParGyan Writer’s Training Program