The students are happy after the availability of sanitary pads in the community schools under Birgunj Metropolitan City. When the time comes for menstruation, the girls who are worried about whether to go to school or not and how to spend the day are relieved.
Having physical problems during menstruation and having difficulty in reading and after girls drop out of school during menstruation; Birgunj Metropolitan City has provided free sanitary pads for girls studying in community schools.
The school management committee has stated that the number of adolescents who drop out of school and go home during menstruation has started decreasing. The government has installed sanitary pad machines in community schools across the country since last fiscal year. In the past, female students had to leave school during menstruation and go home, not coming to school during menstruation. According to the students, since last year, the school has become comfortable with the operation of the pad removal machine during menstruation.
According to the school teachers, the compulsion to return home has been removed after the girls of the community school started getting pads during menstruation. According to the teachers, the girls who refused to come to school for at least 4 days after menstruation are now coming to school as usual.
There are more than 20,000 girls students studying in about 90 community schools in the metropolis. The majority of them are menstruating girls. The school has been giving them regular sanitary pads. The school expects that the pad distribution program will increase the attendance of adolescents in the school and also improve their educational status.
Birgunj Parsa
