Schools that go period smart

By Ousman Kaliati

At Kapira Primary School in Traditional Authority Maganga, Salima, girls used to miss up to a week of school every month. Mariam Jumbe, 16, a Standard 7 learner, knows the experience well.

Her difficulties began in Standard 6 when she had her first period during class.

“My teacher asked me to go to the front. When I stood up, all the boys started laughing. I touched my uniform and saw it was stained with blood,” Mariam recalls.

She wanted to go home immediately.

A female teacher intervened, took her to the office, gave her a cloth to cover the stain and sent her home.

“But that whole week I did not come back. I was ashamed. I missed lessons while others were learning,” she says.

Mariam’s experience is common.

Teachers and health workers say a lack of information, menstrual products and private spaces contributes to absenteeism, low self-esteem and, in some cases, girls dropping out of school.

In 2022, Salima District Council built changing rooms at Kapira Primary School and other schools. The rooms provide girls with a private space to change and manage their periods during school hours.

Head-teacher Carlos Dzathamthumba says the impact was immediate.

“Girls’ enrolment and attendance have improved since the changing rooms came. Before, some girls would stay home for days or even quit school because of menstruation,” Dzathamthumba says.

The school also provides emergency cloths for girls who start their periods unexpectedly and holds awareness sessions to teach learners that menstruation is normal and should not affect their mental wellbeing.

“It is a mental health issue, too. If we don’t address it, efforts to empower girls through education will not work,” Dzathamthumba adds.

Salima HIV and Aids Support Organisation (Saso) is working with several primary schools in the district to raise awareness of menstrual and mental health.

Executive Director Paul Duncan says many girls start menstruating while still in primary school but lack adequate information and menstrual products.

“Without a supportive environment for menstrual health, girls experience fear, anxiety and embarrassment. That leads to absenteeism and poor performance,” Duncan says.

Saso runs campaigns for parents, teachers and community leaders to change attitudes and create safe school environments.

The organisation is also implementing the ‘Improved Community Mental Health Project’ under the Shifting Power Programme by the Tilitonse Foundation, in partnership with Comic Relief and the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office of the United Kingdom.

“Adolescent girls are key partners, hence Saso’s efforts to ensure that every girl stays in school and reaches her potential without barriers caused by menstruation or poor mental health.

“We are also engaging boys and men as key stakeholders and mental health promoters,” Duncan says.

While Kapira has seen progress, not all schools in Salima have changing rooms.

Access to sanitary pads and reusable cloths also remains inconsistent.

Mariam says more schools need similar facilities.

“Government should make sure every school has changing rooms. Many girls are facing this problem,” she says.

For now, at Kapira, the combination of infrastructure, emergency support and awareness is helping girls stay in class.

“Before, we were laughing. Now we understand because Saso is creating awareness,” Standard 7 learner Idrisa Joseph told an organisation facilitator during an awareness session.

Health expert Ides Chilinda says girls now often begin menstruating while still in primary school, typically between the ages of 11 and 14.

“Most girls do not report to school for four days every month until they are done with their periods. In many schools, there are no water and sanitation facilities, and this affects them psychologically,” Chilinda says.

She adds that providing adequate water, sanitation and hygiene facilities could reduce absenteeism, improve academic performance and concentration and reduce girls’ fear of staining their clothes.

Senior Chief Maganga echoes these concerns, saying girls who stain their clothes during their periods are often mocked by male learners, which can affect their mental wellbeing.

“It is a challenge that many girls face, especially in our localities, where we also have low literacy levels. They get mocked and end up absconding from school,” Maganga says.

She adds that some schools previously used toilets as changing rooms, but these were inadequate because girls need private and appropriate facilities to manage menstruation.

Salima District Chief Education Officer Veronica Nyaka says the district works closely with mother groups to ensure that schools have sanitary pads to support girls during menstruation.

Nyaka adds that the district council is committed to ensuring that changing rooms are available in all schools to reduce menstrual-related absenteeism.