By Florence Afriyie Mensah
Atasomanso (Ash), Oct.05, GNA – The Rotary Club of Kumasi-East, has underscored the need for the girl child to be empowered to stay in school even when in their menstrual period.
Ms Sharon Afriyie Ofori-Kuragu, President of the Club said there had been cases, where most girls stayed out of school due to challenges with menstrual hygiene.
Addressing pupils of the Atasomanso M/A Basic School in the Kwadaso Municipality of Ashanti Region, Ms Ofori-Kuragu, said Rotary International recognized the need to intensify education on menstrual hygiene to the public, especially in schools, to avert some of the horrible experiences adolescent girls go through during that time of the month.
The Club had gone to the school to donate educational and literacy materials to the school and educate the pupils on menstruation and menstrual hygiene.
Items donated included 1,000 pieces of exercise books, mathematical sets, pens, pencils and reading books.
The Club also presented packs of sanitary towels to adolescent girls in the school.
Ms Ofori-Kuragu said girls needed to ensure proper menstrual hygiene to prevent body odours to keep them confident, adding that menstruation was a natural phenomenon that girls must not shy from.
She asked the girls to stay away from early and unprotected sexual intercourse and sexual desires that could hinder their educational achievement.
Touching on the long-term relationship with the school, Ms Ofori-Kuragu said the chief in the area had donated land for the Club to build a library for the school.
The Club, on the other hand, has in the last three years, been donating learning materials which had contributed to improving performance in the school.
Ms Ofori-Kuragu said the Club would soon embark on a project to equip the school’s science and Information and Communication Technology Laboratory and motivate teachers with materials to facilitate teaching and learning.
Mr Godfred Bonsu, Head Teacher of the school, expressed appreciation to the Club for the gesture and promised to work hard to ensure the pupils put the educational materials to effective use.
He said the teachers were working to inculcate the habit of reading into the children to enable them to be fluent and read and understand their examination questions.
GNA