Call for transparency in school sanitary wear dist...

Call for transparency in school sanitary wear distribution

Audrey Galawu

There has been a call for publicisation of the whole process of distributing sanitary wear in rural schools after the Parliamentary Committee on Primary and Secondary Education revealed that some schools are not benefitting.

The 2022 national budget allocated ZWL 1.23 billion for distribution to rural schools.

Sanitary Aid Zimbabwe Trust SAZT has called upon the ministry to address questions raised by the organization over the purchasing and distribution of the sanitary wear.

“In our petition to parliament, we raised the question seeking to know the companies contracted, the types of products supplied, the price at which they were provided.

“Authorities should consider a centralized approach that standardize the specifications so that girls receive products that are uniform,” SAZT said.

The Parliamentary Committee on Primary and Secondary Education conducted an inquiry into the distribution of the sanitary wear after receiving a petition from Sanitary Aid Zimbabwe and Deaf Zimbabwe Trust.

The Ministry had reportedly contracted five companies to supply and deliver sanitary wear to the country’s ten provinces.

Contrary to the expectation that all schools should have received an average of 560 reusable pads and between 48 and 72 disposable pads, the committee established that of the districts they visited, only Zaka had distributed sanitary wear to all schools while other schools had not received any of the sanitary wear.

The committee visited Mutimuri Primary school in Gokwe where the school head confirmed to receiving only a single box with 120 units of disposable pads since 2019.

Kasika Primary school head in Rushinga District confirmed receiving a few disposable pads and fabrics of sanitary wear which are yet to be sewn.

Two schools in Mutoko District received reusable pads from government while most schools had not received anything except from the school development partners.

At Ngomeyebaani Primary School, about 265 girls were reportedly in need of sanitary wear in 2022. The school received their first batch in 2020 and another in April 2021.

The committee also visited Chimoyo primary and secondary schools in Mutoko, Chakohwa Primary School in Chimanimani, Mutonhori Secondary School in Zaka and Mazungunye Secondary School in Bikita.

The committee was informed that some schools including Katasa, Chakohwa and Mazungunye had never benefitted from the government sanitary wear project.

In March 2022, the schools had received about 3912 units of disposable pads and 960 units of disposable pads which were inadequate.