Teacher participation a key factor in successful Menstrual Health and Hygiene Management program

When it comes to discussing menstruation issues, studies show that teenage students mostly talk about it with their peers, and they only come to authorities like women teachers when it is truly necessary. This is to show how menstruation remains a taboo and how young girls still feel uncomfortable and embarrassed about the situation.

In SMPN 3 Cisauk junior high school in Tangerang District, Banten Province, however, one of the go-to adults to discuss menstruation is a male teacher named Agung Winanda. He has participated in the teacher training on Menstrual Health and Hygiene Management (MHM) in Tangerang District held by UNICEF, with the support from KAO Corporation through the Japan National Committee for UNICEF

“I was delighted when the Principal appointed me to be the designated teacher for MHM activities. I was concerned with how students had little understanding on reproductive and menstrual health and hygiene,” Agung said.

“The girls had difficulties in managing their menstrual health and hygiene due to the lack of infrastructure and facilities at school. To make matters worse, boys teased the girls about it.”

The MHM training, he said, gave him insights and knowledge that enable him to reach out to the students and raise their awareness on the issues.

“It has definitely not been easy to talk about it with teenagers, especially boys. But slowly, they came to realize that it is an important issue,” Agung said, adding that the program has encouraged school to improve the MHM facilities.

The MHM program for students in Tangerang was launched in 2018, providing training for mentors, teachers and youth health cadres (KKR) who would campaign for this issue. The mentors are teachers appointed by Tangerang District Government to oversee 40 schools where the MHM program takes place. These mentors received a number of trainings, from Human Centered Design Training to Training of Trainers, before they passed on the knowledge to fellow teachers and also the youth health cadres.

Mina Rabiatul Asiah, one of the all-women mentors, said she gained a lot of network from the program. This is despite the switch to online activities instead of offline ones due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

“I met a lot of great people, and received a lot of knowledge from this program on how to maintain menstrual health,” she said.