Lack of frequent supply of sanitary towels among
school going girls has contributed to early pregnancies throughout the country.
The most affected being girls at the primary level who
are forced to stay away from school during their menstrual period and in the
process end up being coerced into submitting to the demands of the purported
sponsors in exchange for cash for sanitary pads.
In a bid to create awareness and empower the girl
child, the Kakamega county nominated senator Naomi Shiyonga has taken up the
initiative to ensure that primary schools within her county and beyond can
afford to keep the girls in school trough out the month by launching her
sanitary pads and boxers for schools programme.
Already the initiative has commenced with several
schools being beneficiaries as more schools reaching out to her noble gesture.
Shiyonga who
has been traversing the county on her sanitary towel distribution pilot project
observed that already the demand was overwhelming and despite the government
through the ministry of education also supplying the same to schools, there was
need for more donors and well wisher considering the number of girls in need.
“Recently the government through the ministry of education
launched sanitary pads for schools in Kajiado county through the cabinet
secretary Professor George Magoha but the consumers are many and that is why
any well wishers are welcomed to join our noble course of donating pads for
schools and if there are any sanitary pads within the ministry please let them
be distributed to schools are they are highly needed, and I’m urging our female
teachers to teach our young girls how to us them effectively and this will
encourage many girls to come to school as they will be comfortable even during
that time of the month”
Already she has honored her pledge to the entire
fraternity of the Victory academy in Shinyalu Sub County where besides her
distributing sanitary towels, undergarments for both boys and girls, vests and
geometrical sets or the candidates, she further donated 10 bags of maize and 1
bag of beans.
“My desire as a leader and mother is to ensure that
matters concerning women and children at large are well articulated and I have
taken it upon myself to make that positive difference in their lives. I was
deeply touched after two of the young girls from the neighbouring school came
to my home seeking assistance to raise exam levy and after having a sitting
with them they open up to me on the challenges they were facing as young girls
and this is what has prompted me to take drastic actions to assist them
whenever possible and already the response is unexplainable as more and more
schools are calling for me to come to their aid and it is my desire to see that
every child is comfortable and excelling in their academic work and I will
continue to touch the life of each and every child I come across at a time
until i get to the masses.”
School girls receive sanitary towels. Image|Courtesy
The senator attributed the high dropout rate of girls
in schools in 2020 to the covid-19 pandemic that caused death, job losses,
divorce and this saw many children especially girls being neglected and hence
falling victims of becoming early mothers.
Many families were destabilized with this pandemic
where even parents lost guard on their children and this has been the biggest
problem we are now grappling with in our schools as cases of indiscipline keeps
on escalating and that why as leaders we are supposed to offer any necessary
help to our pupils and students and restore the lost hope among them.
“Many families are still struggling to come to terms
with harsh realities of life considering the many challenges they have been
through last year and finances has been an issue as many homes are yet to
return to normalcy and this has adversely affected the mental capabilities of
these children with many girls deciding to get married while the boys going for
manual jobs.”
She at the same time called on the teachers to
carefully handle the pupils as many of them were undergoing depression and trauma
caused by Covid-19.
The senator who
planned an impromptu visit to Friends Lukhokho, Mache and Kuvasali primary
schools with the Kakamega North sub county found out that most of the girls
were staying away from school for at least a week when experiencing their
periods and this was affecting their concentration in class hence poor
performance.
“My unplanned visit to these three schools today has
revealed that parents are unable to provide these essential necessities to our
girls due to hard economic times especially this first three months of the year
and I have opted to chip in and assist by donating these pads and boxers to
girls and boys to encourage and motivate them to stay in school and study as
exams are just around the corner so they need total concentration, we will be
traversing different locations now and then to do the same and I’m encouraging
any other willing person organization of the similar thoughts to come on board
and join me in reigniting the lost glory in our school children.”
At the same time she observed that most schools were
congested and there was need to employ more teachers to support the school to
run efficiently.
On matters discipline, while talking at Shanderema
Boys where she graced the grand launch of the school bus, she agreed that it
was a challenge especially in secondary schools but it was important for the
teachers to guide and mentor the students as they have been through a lot in
the recent past.
She advised the students to adopt the 3D’s of success
that are discipline, dedication and determination an further reminded the
parents to fulfill their parental obligations in raising morally upright
children instead of delegating their duties of nurturing to the teachers alone.
The Senator warned that careless caning will lead to
students deserting class but instead advised for caning as a discipline matter
and not punishment.
She assured the teachers that as government they will
meet and deliberate on the re-introduction of corporal or any other form
punishment that is worth to solve the problem.
“Corporal punishment is a policy that is to be
discussed and if agreed upon adopted for implementation to solve the problem”.
