School girls from Riamanoti primary school in Borabu constituency have been skipping vital lessons during their monthly periods due to the lack of sanitary towels, a school head has revealed.
Addressing parents during a crisis meeting on Tuesday, Mr Peter Matoke said the number of girls per lesson in upper primary was dismal due to the inability of the children and their parents to afford the essential sanitary towels.
He urged the government of Kenya and well-wishers to chip in and solve the predicament before it escalated to substantially affect national examination results.
“Our female children from upper primary have been skipping classes whenever they approach that crucial date in their lives. We understand that most parents are unable to afford sanitary towels and that is why I am appealing to well-wishers and the government to help us,” he said.
According to Mr Matoke, at least 150 girls from the institution whose population is close to 400 students were affected with 100 reportedly in need of urgent aid from well-wishers.
“We have been taking statistics and I can report that 100 female students are in an urgent need of the sanitary towels. If the situation isn’t rectified, the performance of the institution in local and national exams will be severely affected,” he said.
They called upon women leaders from the region to spearhead the campaign of helping girls to have an access to the sanitary towels.
“We have women leaders in our county. The pads that Mrs Naomi Nyagarama (the county governor's wife) has been distributing are not enough. We need more women leaders to help us,” said Mrs Jane Kemunto.