UNICEF, others train 200 female principals, teachers on menstrual hygiene  management

BY ANDY ASEMOTA, Katsina

Female principals and teachers in Katsina State have been urged to ensure improved and sustained support for menstrual health hygiene management to checkmate low girl child enrollment and retention in schools.

Hon. Mariya Abdullahi, chairperson of the Katsina State chapter of High Level Women Advocates (HiLWA), a not – for – profit organization initiated by UNICEF, gave the charge yesterday in Katsina while declaring opened the HiLWA cluster training for 200 Katsina females principals and teachers of Junior Secondary Schools (JSS) and primary schools on menstrual hygiene management and the preparations for establishing sanitary pad banks in schools.

She said that the training programme sponsored by UNICEF in collaboration with Foreign Commonwealth Development Office (FCDO) of United Kingdom, the Nigerian government and Katsina State was needed to ease the challenge of menstrual hygiene management on girl child as most of the pupils and students under the participants’ watch were ill – prepared for the issues.

According to her, the two day training in each of the three senator districts across the state attested to the importance, confidence and hope attached to the menstrual health hygiene management.

Hon. Abdullahi cautioned: “There are a lot of spiritual concerns with regards to menstrual towels. After use, the sanitary pads shouldn’t be thrown away carelessly so that unscrupulous persons will not take any advantage of the girl child.

“We are guiding them against that and the diseases that they could be exposed to if they don’t handle their menstrual hygiene properly.”

Speaking in an interview, the secretary of the Katsina HiLWA, Hajiya Wasilatu Sani Saulawa, revealed that the inability of many parents to buy sanitary pads for their girls had been identified as one of the greatest challenges hindering girl child enrollment and retention in the state.

Hajiya Saulawa said: “HiLWA is committed to all activities that will support the education of the girl child so that Katsina State will not even be among the states with the highest number of girls that are out of schools but one of the states with the highest number of girls in schools.

“We have in the past years conducted series of training programmes for female principals, head mistresses and teachers because we have a role to play together to Salvage the situation and to make sure girl child enrollment receives appreciable increase in the state.”