Education Ministry to present budget for free sanitary pads

Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT  | Parliament has tasked the Education and Sports Ministry to present a budget for the provision of free sanitary pads to school girls.

The Speaker of Parliament, Rebecca Kadaga issued the directive after the Presidency Minister, Esther Mbayo, failed to state how much money government requires to fulfill President Yoweri Museveni’s pledge to supply free sanitary pads to primary school girls.

Kadaga asked Mbayo to clarify how many girls will receive the pads and how much is required to fulfill the pledge.  Mbayo requested Parliament to task the Education Ministry to provide the details as the concerned ministry.

Museveni pledged to provide school girls free sanitary pads during the 2016 election campaigns in West Nile. On Wednesday, the Dokolo Woman MP, Cecilia Ogwal sought an explosion from when government will fulfill the presidential pledge.

In her response, Mbayo asked the House to use its appropriation role to allocate a budget for the provision of free pads. However, Mbayo said the Education Ministry will provide such details. She however noted that the Presidency Ministry is aware that girls face a number of challenges because most schools in rural and hard to reach areas lack clean sanitary facilities, changing rooms, waste disposal facilities, water and soap for washing and hygienic sanitary wear.

“Therefore, such girls, from primary 5 up until senior three resort to “unhygienic  substitutes such as rags, pieces of foam mattress, toilet paper or banana fibers, for menstrual management which causes considerable health risks and absenteeism, “ Mbayo told MPs.

Mbayo cited statistics from the  2012 study done by International Rescue Centre  that noted that one in tem menstruating girls skips school four days every month, which is about 24 days the entire year. There are about 220 school learning days a year.

She noted that though the pledge has not been fulfilled, the ministry of Education is working with some civil Society Organizations to pilot interventions on providing sanitary pads to girls in a number of districts in the country. They include Afri-pads, Uganda Red Cross, Eco-pads, Fields of Life, and plan International.

Mbayo also noted that the Education Ministry has also put up a number of initiatives to ensure menstrual management such as developing age appropriate information packages on menstrual hygiene, training in making re-usable pads using locally available materials, building the capacity of teachers especially senior female and male teachers to support school girls to manage physical and psycho-social changes associated with menstruation.

There was a bipartisan rebuttal on her recommendation because it didn’t specify how much needed or the targeted number of beneficiaries among other details.

The Dokolo Woman MP, Cecilia Ogwal and Arua Municipality MP, Kassiano Wadri poked holes in Mbayo’s statement.

Ogwal noted that Mbayo had not presented budgetary requirements to provide sanitary pads to school girls across the country while Kassiano said the opposition should capitalize on the government’s failure to fulfill the presidential pledge.

The Arua Woman MP, Mourine Osoru, Igara West MP, Raphael Magyezi and Mitooma Woman MP, Jovah Kamateeka  also demanded for a comprehensive statement with specified budget items.

According to the 2014 National Population Census, out of a total population of 34.6 million people, 20.1 million were in school-going age from 3 to 24 in pre-primary, primary, secondary and post-secondary.

However, out of the 7.3 million pupils aged 6 to 12 years in the primary school category, 3.6 million were females while out of the 5.2 million students in secondary level aged 13 to 18, 2.6 million were females.

Kadaga has now directed the Clerk to Parliament to write to the Education Ministry to present to Parliament a budget for provision of sanitary pads with the exact numbers of the targeted population.

In September, the Deputy Speaker of Parliament, Jacob Oulanyah also tasked the Education and Sports Ministry to present a report within three months on the progress on government’s plan to provide sanitary pads to schoolgirls in primary school.

Oulanyah made the directive after the Minister of State for Sports; Charles Bakkabulindi failed to inform MPs when the government plans to fulfill the presidential pledge.

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