The Ministry of Education (Ghana), through its Pre-Tertiary Education Directorate and in collaboration with the United Nations Population Fund, hosted an inter-ministerial workshop on Healthy, Educated, and Responsible Adolescents and National Menstrual Health Management to discuss strategies for addressing adolescent challenges, particularly those related to menstrual health and school attendance.
Mr. Stephen Owusu, Technical Advisor at the Pre-Tertiary Directorate, opened the meeting by stating that the engagement aimed to investigate how society views teenagers, deal with the stigma associated with menstruation, and investigate how these issues affect girls’ school dropout and absenteeism.
He praised development partners, such as the United Nations Children’s Fund and UNESCO, for supporting initiatives to enhance adolescent health and educational outcomes and emphasised the government’s intervention by providing sanitary pads to students who are at risk.
Excerpts from a video called Barred by Blood, which focused on the stigma associated with menstruation and the obstacles experienced by girls in Chichere, Central Region, Ghana, were shown as part of the workshop by the Ghana Education Service.
The government is planning to build a bridge to assist children in securely crossing a river that has historically prevented menstruation females from attending school, according to the documentary, which included conversations with students, traditional authorities, and legislators.
Source: newsthemegh.com