Sanitary pads provision schools debate reignites
“Following the paper that Kgosi Puso Gaborone Commission handed to the government in 2008, the State promised to implement some of the recommendations in 2009 amongst them the provision of sanitary pads to no avail till today,” a concerned Moganana bemoaned.
Asked what may be delaying the adoption of the Kgosi Puso Gaborone Commission and the Majaga motion, Moganana stated that from time immemorial, there has been a problem with the implementation of ideas within the government enclave.
“Our government sometimes come up with noble ideas but those ideas are never implemented. In addition, the government never set aside money to fund some of the ideas that it wants to implement hence it is not surprising that Majaga’s motion was never implemented because it is clear that it was not budgeted for,” he said.
Moganana added that the failure by the State to honour its promise has inherent consequences such as school girls ending up being forced to engage in relationships with older men who can afford to buy them (girls) sanitary pads.
The Minister of Basic Education, Fidelis Molao said the provision of free sanitary pads in schools has long been happening in Botswana.
“The provision of free sanitary pads is handled by the Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development and the pads are provided under the dispensation of the social safety net. The rationale behind the free provision of the pads is that they are only provided to children who have been assessed and it was discovered that their parents or guardians don’t have the means to provide the same to their children. The
children were given free sanitary pads even before the motion was adopted in Parliament. The motion to provide free sanitary pads was re-emphasising the need to do so,” Molao said.
As recent as last week, Malawi axed tax on sanitary pads following in the footsteps of Kenya in 2017, which started to provide free sanitary pads to schoolgirls.
According to a 2014 campaign, the problem of girls missing school was not only found in Africa but is also prevalent in countries like India, Nepal and Afghanistan for the same reason.