The Ministry of Education, Arts and Culture has launched the Integrated School Health Programme (ISHP) at Origo Primary School in Rehoboth in the Hardap Region.
The programme, which is a collaborative initiative between the ministries of health and education, aims to implement health-promoting school initiatives, focusing on promoting conducive teaching, learning and healthy lifestyles among learners.
In a statement to the media on Wednesday, the ministry said “The importance and the wide spectrum of programme objectives have led to the stakeholders establishing an integrated school health task force at a national level, where the United Nations, the ministries and other stakeholders will together work on planning, coordination, monitoring and evaluation, research, resource mobilisation and advocacy of the ISHP.”
Hardap Regional Education Director, Gerhard Ndafenongo in the statement said the ministry must engage in advocacy with political leaders and donor agencies to support the dignity project, which is part of the integrated school health programme and national safe schools’ framework.
“Girls and women do not choose whether to have their menses or not. When we do not support them during this time and provide them with the means with which to take care of themselves, we are violating their basic human rights. Menstruation is a healthy and natural biological process, without which life on earth ceases to exist,” he said.
The ministry also launched the Namibian Coalition for Menstrual Health and Hygiene Management (MHHM) at the same school, to provide a platform for coordination and knowledge-sharing for the work being done by various stakeholders working in MHHM.
Stakeholders, it said, will have to work together to increase menstrual health information disbursement and mobilise resources to improve the coalition.
“This is essential as in Namibia, as research has shown, 18 per cent of our learners are missing between four and five days of school per month due to menstruation issues and challenges. Putting that into the Namibian perspective, where there are approximately 195 school days per year, they miss out on 45 of those school days, which is simply too much,” added the statement.
Source: Namibia Press Agency
