4.0 CHAPTER FOUR
4.1 RESULTS
This chapter presents the finding of the study. It covers the demographic distribution of the
participants, challenges encountered by primary school girls during menstruation, the relationship
between menstruation and absenteeism, poor school performance and school dropout, the
influence of culture on menstruating school girls and the solutions to the challenges encountered
by girls in primary school.
Results for inferential statistics are also presented including test of independence for specific
variables. The significance of each test is shown using Chi-square values. The details of the
findings are presented in the subsequent sections.
SOCIO-DEMOGRAPHIC
PARTICIPANTS
AND
ECONOMIC
CHARACTERISTICS
OF
THE
Figure 1 below depicts the distribution of the participants according to school.
Figure 1: Distribution of study participants according to school
33
32
32
31
30
29
28
27
27
26
25
24
Mvwalamani Primary School
Wantaya Primary School
Source: Primary data
A total of 59 girls were interviewed for the study. Of the 59-girls interviewed, 32 (representing
54.2 %) were from Mvwalamani primary school while 27 girls (representing 45.8%) were from
Wantaya primary school.
In terms of distribution according to class, 25 (42.4%) of the girls were from standard eight, 18
(30.5%) were from standard seven, 9 (15.3%) were from standard six, 6 (10.2%) were from
standard five and 1 (1.7%) from standard four.
Figure 2 below shows the distribution of participants by age and class.
14
12
Frequency
12
12
10
10
8
8
Standard 4
8
Standard 5
5
6
Standard 6
4
2
1
1
1
Standard 7
1
Standard 8
0
9-12
13-15
16-18
Age of the respondent
Source: Primary data
The girls were in the age ranges between 9 and 18 with 59.3 % in mid adolescence.
Table 1: Relationship between mothers’ education and occupation
No
Primary
Secondary
Education
Level
Level
Tertiary
Level
0
4
0
0
Total
4
0
32
0
0
32
Employed
4
4
1
0
9
Unemployed
7
0
6
1
14
11
40
7
1
59
Occupation of the Business
mother
Farming
Total
Source: Primary data
Most mothers/female guardians of school girls had attained primary school education (n=40,
67.8%) and were not gainfully employed rather most of them were farmers (n=32, 54.2%).
Table 2: Relationship between fathers’ education and occupation
No
Primary
Secondary
Education
Level
Level
Occupation of the
father
Tertiary
Level
Business
0
4
0
0
Total
4
Farming
0
15
0
0
15
Employed
11
4
6
4
25
Unemployed
Total
Source: Primary data
6
3
6
0
15
17
26
12
4
59
From the table above, a greater degree of the fathers had also attained primary school education
26 (44.1%) and most of them were employed 25 (42.4%) within the community while others
travelled to South Africa to work.
Figure 3: Distribution of girls and who they live with
In order to get a better impression of parental support, girls were asked to mention who they lived
with. The illustrative pie chart in figure 3 below shows that, the majority of the girls 23 (39%)
lived with both their mother and father, 16 (27.1%) lived with their mother only, 10 (16.9%) lived
with their grandmother, 8 (13.6%) lived with their guardians such as uncle, aunt, grand mother and
sister while 2 (3.4%) lived with their father only.
RESEARCH QUESTION 1: WHAT ARE THE CHALLENGES ENCOUNTERED BY
GIRLS IN SCHOOL DURING MENSTRUATION AND THE COMMUNITY
PARTICIPATION IN MH DIALOGUE WITH PARENTS
33
32
32
31
30
29
28
27
27
26
25
24
No
Yes
Source: Primary data
The data from figure 4 reveals that 32, (54%) do not talk about menstruation with their parents
rather they prefer talking about it with their friends or female teachers due to limited closeness
with their parents. For those that informed their teachers, they said that, they felt more comfortable
talking with their female teachers because they were perceived to be more understanding and
sympathetic to their needs. Yet despite this, teachers always told them to go home without giving
them any support. Furthermore, 27 (46%) of the girls said that they talk about menstruation with
their parents more especially their mother because they have experienced the same situation.
The result establishes the fact that parents do not provide an open dialogue with their daughters
about menstruation.
One of the fundamental questions in the study focused on understanding if girls are given parental
support in the form of menstrual materials. Based on the table below, it is interesting to note that
55(93.2%) said that they receive parental support during their menses while 4(6.8%) said they do
not receive parental support during menses.
Table 3: Relationship between parental support for menstrual materials and absorbent
materials frequently used
Does your parents
provide you with
support for menstrual
materials?
Total
Yes
Disposable
Reusable/Washable commercial sanitary
rag/cloth pad
pad
38
17
69.1%
No
4
30.9%
Total
55
100.0%
0
4
100.0%
0.0%
100.0%
42
71.2%
17
28.8%
59
100.0%
Furthermore, 42 (71.2 %) of the girls used reusable rag/cloth pads, 17 (28.8%) used disposable
commercial sanitary pads. For those that mentioned frequent use of disposable commercial
sanitary pads 17 (30.9%) said they have been provided money by their parents/guardian to buy
sanitary pads while for those that do not have parental support during their menses mentioned
frequent use of rags and other local materials. Delving deeper into the figures, 38 (69.1%) said
that, their parents do not like to see them miss classes and they provide them with a piece of
chitenje/ cloth to use only when they are at school but when they go back home they use rags.
It was noted that commercial sanitary pads are too expensive for most of the parents to buy their
children and also are scarce. The cost of one pack ranges from K500 to K1800. Hence, the majority
of the interviewed girls use pieces of cloth and occasionally disposable commercial sanitary pad
during menstruation.
Table 4: Relationship between age and where menstruation started
Where were you when your first
menstruation occurred?
9-14
15-18
Total
Home
School
23
21
0
12
23
33
Church
3
0
3
47
12
59
Total
Source: Primary data
As observed from the table, most 47 (79.7%) of the girls had attained menarche between 9 to 14
years and the majority of girls started their menstruation while at school 33 (55.9%). Within the
context of this study this implies that, more girls remain vulnerable to menstrual accidents while
they are at school.
Table 5: Relationship between age and frequency of changing menstrual gear
Age of the respondent
Total
9-12
13-15
16-18
1-2 times
2
9
5
16
3-4 times
1
23
16
40
5-6 times
0
3
0
3
Total
3
35
21
59
Source: Primary data
The result in the table above shows that the majority of the girls changed their menstrual protective
wear 3-4 times in a 24-hour period (n=40, 67.8%). However, a comparison across the age groups
of the girls reveals that younger girls changed their menstrual protective wear less than their older
counterparts. This finding suggest that younger girls are not capable of taking care of themselves
during menstruation while older girls are more experienced and able in maintaining menstrual
hygiene.
Another fundamental question asked during the study was to know if the school environment was
an enabling environment for the girls to concentrate on their studies during menstruation.
60
53
50
40
30
20
10
5
1
0
Yes
No
Neutral
As revealed from figure 5, 53 (89.8%) of the girls said that the school premises is not an enabling
environment for them to learn during menstruation, 5(8.5%) did not raise any complaint against
the school premises.
In order to get a better impression as to why most girls were not comfortable with the school
environment, Table 6 presents the research findings.
Table 6: Reasons for feeling uncomfortable at school during menstruation
Frequency
Percent
No change rooms for privacy
No access to menstrual supplies
Feel Sick
49
4
3
83.1
6.8
5.1
Peers laugh at us
No pads at school
2
1
3.4
1.7
Total
59
100.0
Source: Primary data
Most girls (83.1%) said that there are no changerooms or space where they can privately check,
change and wash during menses, 6.8% said they have no access to pain medication, while 5.1%
said they feel sick.
To be more accurate, girls were asked other ways how menstruation affected them. Thirty-four
(57.6%) of the girls complained of feeling weak and sick (stomach-ache, headache, backache), 20
(33.9%) complained of inability to concentrate and participate in class, and about 5 (8.5%)
remarked that it keeps them out of school due to fear of staining the uniform, odor, discomfort
with movement and sitting as a result when feeling sick girls opt to sleep and avoid talking to
people.
Table 7: Relationship between school and other ways menstruation affected them
Name of
School
Mvwalamani Primary School
Wantaya Primary School
Total
Cannot
Concentrate
in class
Feel weak
and sick
Keeps me out
of school
Total
20
62.5%
12
37.5%
0
0.0%
32
100.0%
0
22
5
27
0.0%
81.5%
18.5%
100.0%
20
33.9%
34
57.6%
5
8.5%
59
100.0%
Source: Primary data
This interferes with their engagement with school work as many prefer to stay at home other than
stay in school.
According to school teachers and mother group committees, school girls have been encountering
many challenges while at school. They mentioned that, girls are not comfortable when they are in
menstrual period because the schools’ surrounding environments are not friendly to support them
to manage well their menstrual flow which affects their performance. Participants from the focus
group discussion had the following to say;
“Schools lack improved sanitation facilities i.e. latrines, changing rooms, water facilities, bathing
rooms and a place to wash”. (Wantaya Primary School Focus Group Discussion)
The menstrual gear used by girls while at school cannot resist the blood flow as most of them use
rags which make them uncomfortable fearing of staining their uniforms and most of them deciding
to stay home until when the blood cut off”. (Mwvalamani Primary School Focus Group
Discussion)
“Schools do not keep sanitary wears for emergency i.e. pants, pads, cottons, skirts etc. to support
school girls”. (Mwvalamani Primary School Focus Group Discussion)
Sanitary pads are too expensive and also not always available at the local market. School female
teachers mentioned that they lack knowledge on menstrual hygiene management issues and they
are not clear with their position to support school girls when they face challenges while at school.
In an in-depth interview with female teachers from Wantaya and Mvwalamani primary schools,
most of them said that their knowledge on menstrual hygiene issues is too limited. The only thing
that they can do is to advise them on how to handle themselves as grownups, and how to handle
challenges they may encounter especially from males and sex related issues and diseases.
RESEARCH QUESTION 2A: WHAT IS THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN MENSTRUATION
AND SCHOOL ABSENTEEISM
To accurately answer this question, girls school attendance was followed up for 3months. Table 8
below outlines the reasons girls provided when they were absent from school.
Table 8: Reasons for absenteeism
Frequency
Percent
1
2.0
27
52.9
Mother Sick
1
2.0
None
6
11.8
Sent to trading center
1
2.0
She went to Kakhombwe
1
2.0
Sick with other ailments
5
9.8
Transfer out
1
2.0
Washing clothes
1
2.0
Went to attend funeral
5
9.8
Went to the market to buy clothes
2
3.9
51
100.0
Dropped out of school
Menstruation related reasons
Total
Source: Wantaya and Mvwalamani primary schools combined school attendance register
The result shows that 27 (52.9%) of the reasons for school absenteeism were due to menstruation,
6 (11.8%) were unspecified reasons, 2 (3.9%) missed school because they went to the market to
buy clothes.
During the survey, girls were asked whether they think menstruation can cause someone to be
absent from school. The majority of the girls (59.3%) responded “Yes”, while only (40.7%) of the
girls said “No”. A chi-square goodness of fit test was conducted comparing the occurrence of Yes
(n=35) and No (n=24) responses on the question. The chi square of independence test confirmed
that the differences in the 2 numbers (for yes and for no) are significantly different. In other words,
the difference did not occur by mere chance.
Furthermore, girls were asked how many times they missed classes during menstruation. The study
found that more than half (77.5%) of the girls interviewed miss classes during their menstrual
period. Specifically, 30 (42.3 %) miss school for approximately five days until when the blood
cuts off, 18.3% miss school for about two days while 11 (15.5%) miss school once every circle. A
chi-square goodness of fit test was conducted comparing the responses to ascertain if they occur
with equal probabilities. The test established that the responses do not occur with equal
probabilities (p<0.01).
Table 9: Frequency of missing school during menstruation
Frequency
Percent
Once every cycle
11
15.5
Twice every cycle
13
18.3
Five days (Until when the blood cuts off)
30
42.3
Attend classes half day
Do not miss classes
1
16
1.4
22.5
Total
71
100.0
With this result and building from the earlier research question the researcher developed an
impression that, menstruation interferes with the quality of school time thus increasing school
absenteeism when girls start to menstruate.
However, it was noted that schoolgirls also miss school for other, non-menstrual related reasons,
such as long distance (n=17, 21.8%), lack of school materials (n=14, 17.9%), family responsibility
(n=13, 16.7%), and household chores (n=12, 15.4%).
Table 10: Other reasons contributing to absenteeism from school
Frequency
Percent
Household chores
Family Responsibility
Market day
Lack of school materials
Long distance
Peer pleasure
Sickness
Farming
Funeral
Rains
12
13
4
14
17
6
8
2
1
1
15.4
16.7
5.1
17.9
21.8
7.7
10.3
2.6
1.3
1.3
Total
78
100.0
RESEARCH QUESTION 2B: WHAT IS THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN MENSTRUATION
AND POOR PERFOMANCE IN CLASS?
Despite other reasons girls highlighted menstruation as a major reason for not performing well
when they are at school. This is because they miss classes during the menstrual period and also,
they are unable to concentrate when they remain in the class. In this study, 77.5% of the
interviewed girls mentioned that, they always lose concentration due to lack of confidence caused
by poor sanitary materials as they fear staining their uniform and experience sharp pains such as
stomach ache, headache and backache. When schoolgirls miss significant number of lessons they
may fail to catch up with their classmates thus performing poorly in class.
In the open-ended questionnaire, a female student said the following, “… In our class we are mixed
with boys and you feel vulnerable when you are sitting next to a boy and you are on your
menstruation. You even feel shy when you are standing up because you always feel like you messed
up.” ~ Female Student, (.
RESEARCH QUESTION 2C: WHAT IS THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN MENSTRUATION
AND SCHOOL DROPOUT
It was mentioned during the focus group discussions and in-depth interviews that the main causes
of girls dropping out of school were pregnancy and early marriages.
“Men in the community take advantage of our girls’ inability to purchase sanitary pads by
exploiting them into sexual activities, especially at a time when they get accidents (soil their
uniform), here is where seduction starts, when men discover the situation” (Mvwalamani Focus
Group Discussion)
RESEARCH QUESTION 3: WHAT IS THE INFLUENCE OF CULTURE TOWARDS
MENSTRUATION IN SCHOOL
The research sought to understand the extent of cultural interference in the ability of girls to openly
discuss the issues surrounding menstruation. Having been asked if it is prohibited to openly discuss
menstruation and its management at school in line with their culture, 72.9% said it is prohibited,
while only 27.1 % said it is not.
In the context of this study, cultural practices and social myths make it difficult for girls to talk
about menstruation. According to the interviewed, mother group committees from Mwvalamani
primary school and Wantaya primary school, menstruating girls cannot be allowed to go to school
for the initial days of their menstruation until some traditional rituals are performed on them. It
was also mentioned that parents are not allowed to discuss menstrual issues with their daughters.
Only a grandmother and an aunt are recommended to do so without even knowing the reason
behind it. Yet despite this, older women often considered ‘wise’ are also often illiterate or
uneducated themselves, and may recount and reinforce myths that are biologically incorrect.
Menstruation problems are highly reinforced by cultural, local customs concerning menstruation.
For example, some of the girls were taught not to use disposable sanitary pads as it would be used
for witchcraft and girls failing to conceive or will die if it is improperly disposed.
RESEARCH QUESTION 4: WHAT ARE THE SOLUTIONS TO THE CHALLENGE’S GIRLS
ENCOUNTER DURING MENSTRUATION
In the questionnaire, girls were asked to rank six suggestions for addressing the challenges that
they encounter during menstruation. The highest-ranking suggestions included construction of
change rooms 55 (31.1%), provision of pain medication at school 36 (20.5%), training girls on
how to sew reusable sanitary cloth pads and ensuring that there is a safe and private disposal of
menstrual waste 49 (27.8%). Other recommendations included; sensitizing communities to loosen
up on harmful cultural practices 13 (7.4%) and availability of water and soap in the change room/
school premises.
Table 11: Solutions to the challenges girls encounters during menstruation at school
Construction of change rooms
Provision of menstrual pain medication
Training girls on how to sew reusable cloth pads
Ensuring that there is safe and private disposal of menstrual waste
Sensitizing communities to loosen up on harmful cultural practices
Provision of water and soap in wash rooms
Total
Frequency
Percent
55
36
49
22
13
1
31.3
20.5
27.8
12.5
7.4
.6
176
100.0
.
The findings of the qualitative data were consistent with those from the questionnaire. The main
recommendations from the focus group discussions were related to the need for improving supply
of menstrual hygiene materials and the facilities at school to make it easier for girls to clean
themselves, and dispose of used pads in a way that assures their privacy. One of the most frequent
recommendations was for the availability of menstrual hygiene materials including sanitary pads
and menstrual pain medication. Here are some of the transcripts from the focus group discussions;
“We would like to ask organizations to assist girls to remain in school by providing free
medications such as pain killers (Brufen) which helps alleviate abdominal pains associated with
menstruation thereby preventing girls from being absent from school” (Participant 4, Focus Group
Discussion at Mvwalamani).
“We would like to ask organizations to come up with bylaws which would help our children to
return back to school, because the locally made interventions are met with resistance from both
the girls and guardians. If organizations work with us in enforcing bylaws, we believe that both
the parents and the victims will be able to obey the stipulated laws for fear of the consequences
associated with negligence” (Participant 1, Focus Group Discussion at Wantaya)
Improvement of facilities at school was also frequently cited. Participants particularly pointed out
the need for construction of girls change rooms, steady supply of water and soap at school.
“They should construct change rooms for us because when we want to clean or check ourselves
during menses, we have to ask permission from one of the female teachers to go to their house and
change or wash. This is very challenging because sometimes there is no water or soap at the
teachers house” (Participant 6, Focus Group Discussion at Wantaya).
RECOMMENDATIONS
Menstrual hygiene management has been left behind at Mwvavalami and Wantaya primary
schools. To this end, the following recommendations are put forward from the study:
1. An enabling environment has to be created to provide school girls with a private space to
manage their menstrual health. This can be done by construction of changing rooms,
latrines and disposal units.
2. Provision of low-cost disposable sanitary pads for school girls that can enable girls to feel
comfortable during class hours for several hours without staining their uniforms there by
ensuring universal access and level the playing field for all learners.
3. Schools should provide supportive structures such as counseling, girls clubs, and
mentoring activities.
4. Strengthening the relationship between schools and health workers, who should be
encouraged to visit schools and offer counselling services on menstrual hygiene
management.
5. Improve the level of menstrual hygiene management knowledge teaching practices among
teachers by sensitizing and training them on menstrual hygiene issues.
6. Community engagement through sensitization meetings, dialogues, promotions and
theatres involving parents, cultural leaders, men, women and other stakeholders on
menstrual hygiene issues
7. Awareness creation, promotion of positive behavior changes on menstruation hygiene
issues amongst parents.
8. Development and dissemination of Information, Education and Communication materials
specific to menstrual hygiene that can create awareness and break stigma around
menstruation.