Accra: A queen mother has expressed support for the government's Free Sanitary Pad Distribution programme, emphasizing its potential to reduce school dropouts and enhance educational opportunities for girls in rural areas.
According to Ghana News Agency, Nana Ama Anima Tutuwaa, the Nkosuahemaa of the Adontenhene Traditional Division of the Dormaa Traditional Area, commended President John Dramani Mahama for his initiative aimed at supporting vulnerable girls. The programme, launched by President Mahama, aims to promote gender equality and improve school attendance by providing free sanitary pads to girls from Primary five through Senior High School across the nation.
In an interview with the Ghana News Agency at Aboabo Number Four in the Dormaa Municipality of the Bono Region, Nana Tutuwaa highlighted that many girls in deprived communities drop out of school due to the inability to access or afford sanitary pads. As the Head teacher of Aboabo Number Four Primary School, she noted that inadequate Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) facilities further contribute to the high dropout rates among girls in rural areas.
Despite these challenges, Nana Tutuwaa believes the government's free pad distribution will help mitigate the situation. She urged development partners to support the government by improving WASH facilities in basic schools. Additionally, she expressed concern about the rising issue of teenage pregnancy, which also hampers girl-child education, and called for collective efforts to address factors like lack of parental care, poverty, and peer pressure that contribute to the problem.
Nana Tutuwaa also suggested increasing public awareness about the effects of substance abuse to tackle the growing issue of illicit drug use among youth in the area.
