TEACHER TRAINING

CONFERENCE
13.08.2018 (Officers’ Club
Lounge)
16.08.2018 (TA Farooq High
School)
 WHY IS THIS
CONFERENCE
IMPORTANT?
MENSTRUATION IN BANGLADESH: WHY
IS TACKLING TABOOS SO IMPORTANT?
 National Hygiene Baseline Survey, 2014- 89% hide cloth in unhygienic place

 UNICEF survey-1/3 do not change their cloths frequently or wash them with soap

 Only 50% dried rags outside in sun, which helps kill bacteria

 Girls are ashamed around male family members

 RITU study-girls wake up early to wash cloths,

and only use 1 bucket of water to avoid

discovery


 Consultant Gynaecologist Dr Nowsheen Sharmin Purabi: these restrictions prevent
young girls from managing periods hygienically, leading to fungal infections and
infection of the reproductive and urinary tracts

 “Chronic infections lower the overall quality of a girl’s life and may even lead to
infertility in the future”
 National Hygiene Baseline Survey-40% of school girls reported missing school during menstruation.

 Insufficient gender-separate toilets in many schools

 Poor toilet maintenance

 Lack of suitable disposal for sanitary napkins

 Lack of clean water-salinity issue in Mongla

 Not enough school sessions on Menstruation

 Many girls feel scared, uncomfortable and unclean during their period when they shouldn’t have to

 If girls miss 3-5 days of school each month, they could miss up to 40 days of school year
SANITARY NAPKIN CORNER
IN SCHOOLS
 SANITARY NAPKIN CORNER
IN SCHOOLS
Aims:
 To provide girls with an emergency sanitary napkin if they are
unprotected or unprepared for their period
 To provide comfort and support to girls during menstruation
 To promote the use of sanitary napkins instead of cloths or rags
for hygienic reasons (to reduce the risk of infection)
 To ensure girls feel comfortable approaching teachers about this
issue
 To reduce the taboo surrounding menstruation in schools
 To encourage girls not to miss school when on their period
 SANITARY NAPKIN CORNER
CONFERENCE
Aims:
 To encourage teachers from different schools in Mongla to be
active and work together to come up with ideas that will
ensure the sustainability of the Sanitary Napkin Corner when
VSO ICS stop working in the area
 To connect schools so that they can support each other in
doing this
 To connect schools with government officials, particularly the
Women’s Affairs Officer, who will provide guidance and will
monitor each school’s progress
 To start the conversation about menstruation which will lead to
increased awareness about it in schools and the diminution of
the taboo
SRHR SCHOOL SESSIONS
 SRHR SCHOOL SESSIONS
Aims:
 To provide teachers with advanced training on ‘Puberty’ and
‘Menstrual Health” so that they are able to give regular school sessions
to students in classes 6-10
 To be sustainable and cost-effective, as teachers already work at
schools, and will not have to organize and pay for nurses/doctors to
give sessions
 To increase the number of SRHR lessons given in schools, which will
lead to students’ increased awareness
 To ensure students’ comfort approaching a time of insecurity,
vulnerability and mental and physical changes
 To enable teachers to become advocates for SRHR issues
 To diminish the taboo
DHONNOBAD!