EDUCATION POLICY ASSUMPTIONS AND IMPACTS in Africa: A case study of access to feminine hygiene products for the girl child in Zimbabwe Maxim Murungweni Maxim Murungweni holds an MSc in Development Studies and a BSc (Hons) in Social Work. He has ten years of experience in humanitarian work and research, having worked for Save the Children and the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). Maxim has been a focal person in Zimbabwean civil society, specifically in relation to the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) and the African Committee of Experts on the Rights and Welfare of the Child (ACERWC). He has written articles published on the ACERWC website.
Introduction Despite numerous efforts to promote girl child education in Zimbabwe and the implementation of the Zimbabwe National Adolescent Sexual and Reproductive Health Strategy (2010-2015) (Ministry of Health and Child Welfare, 2009), the active participation of the girl child in education is still hampered by menstruation hygiene management challenges post-2015. This paper explores how menstruation hygiene management challenges have impacted on the education of the Zimbabwean girl child. Findings reveal that girls are not able to access feminine hygiene products and this is a health issue. However, it should be addressed as an education issue as it has negative impacts on the education of the girl child in Africa (Chebii, 2012). The lack of feminine hygiene products and sanitary facilities results in a range of negative effects, particularly decreased attendance and class participation, lack of concentration, constrained interaction with peers and teachers, and a lack of confidence, among others (ibid). The need to lobby the government to provide free feminine hygiene products to every girl, as part of education services, the prioritisation of WASH (water, sanitation and hygiene) at all schools, and the construction of girl-friendly sanitary facilities are some of the recommendations made. This paper advocates for the provision of feminine hygiene products for the girl child in schools, as a necessary strategy to enable girls to more fully enjoy the right to quality education. Drawn from the lived experiences of the Zimbabwean girl child, the paper illustrates how the biological process of menstruation can be an impediment to girls in terms of accessing education. Policies continue to be blind to this reality. In Zimbabwe, the discourse on the menstrual cycle of girls has generally been taken as a health issue. Therefore, policies on education have not prioritised it. There is a need for policy to address the provision of hygiene products to girl children for them to access education, with actual implementation plans, monitoring mechanisms and budgetary indications as priorities. An implementation plan would provide a mechanism for ensuring that policy is put into operation, whereas a monitoring plan will provide a checklist and evaluation tool to assess the effectiveness of policy implementation. These key elements are not clearly specified in current adolescent sexual and reproductive health (ASRH) and education policies with regard
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to access to hygiene products. This would be beneficial for girls’ access to education.
The problem An analysis of the education policy landscape in Zimbabwe shows that access to feminine hygiene products for the girl child is hardly taken into consideration. As a result, there are no deliberate, sustained efforts within the education system to provide hygiene products for the girl child (Mavudzi, 2015). In reality, the menstrual situation is a terrible one for many girls in Zimbabwe (Nyamanhindi, 2013). Instead of celebrating their transition to womanhood, the lack of sanitary products causes girls to drop out of school, and many remain outside the education system, limiting the possibilities for them to contribute meaningfully to development processes in their country and beyond (Mavudzi, 2015). There are various impediments to the implementation of the ASRH strategy, among other instruments that should improve girls’ access to hygiene management and services. Firstly, donor assistance regarding product and service provision, such as sanitary pads and WASH services, are channelled through CSOs and not the Ministry of Health (Masiyiwa & Makoni, 2015). Such efforts tend to be uncoordinated and depend entirely on donor focus. The private sector and the donor community have come together to make headway by contributing to cost-effective hygiene products such as the My Pads initiative. The My Pads initiative is a partnership between SNV and the SMEs business network, which is producing reusable pads for the rural market (SNV, 2015). However, once funding ends, programmes cease. Secondly, disjointed coordination results in the failure to coordinate implementation of policies, as various stakeholders have differing objectives and take policy directives that suit the outcomes they are anticipating to achieve. Thirdly, there is no universal implementation, monitoring and evaluation plan to support the ASRH strategy. A standard implementation, monitoring and evaluation system ensures that all stakeholders keep track of their strategic objectives and ensure service delivery. The monitoring and evaluation plan would provide a check to ensure that implementation of the strategy is being carried out efficiently and effectively. TRANSFORMATIVE EDUCATION: the Africa we need by 2030