A new study has found that giving free sanitary napkins to girls can help prevent absenteeism in schools especially in developing nations.

The study concentrated on the negative impacts of adolescence on a girl's education and how the hassle of periods and changes in an individual's body can be managed with the help of authorities from the institution. A randomized trial was used to determine the positive effects of the availability of puberty lessons and reusable pads in schools. The Kamuli district in Uganda, Africa was selected because it is the poorest area in the country with very high dropout, fertility, and illiteracy rates. Data from the government reveals that only 54 percent of girls enrolled in secondary schools are literate.

Like Us on Facebook

With 1,000 participants from 8 schools, the researchers found out that schools that do not provide education about puberty and free sanitary pads have 17 percent higher absenteeism rate among girls. This percentage is equal to almost three and a half school days every month.

Professor Paul Montgomery of the University of Oxford said: "Many girls don't know about periods before they encounter their first one. They are totally unprepared because they receive no information or training on how to manage them." In developing nations, menstruation is considered an embarrassing and shameful moment for an individual.

The author of the research said that girls do not have to worry about feeling dirty during their monthly visits if schools will provide free sanitary pads and educate them that puberty is a normal occurrence in a girl's life.

This study published in the journal PLOS ONE follows pioneering research conducted in Ghana which revealed the positive impacts of the availability of sanitary napkins and puberty courses in reducing absenteeism rate among girls in secondary schools. Montgomery asserted that "simple interventions like these can have major long-term economic implications for women in low and middle-income countries, which socially empowers them."