Question NW1060 to the Minister of Basic Education
09 May 2018 - NW1060
van der Merwe, Ms LL to ask the Minister of Basic Education
(1) With regard to the undertaking to provide free sanitary pads to indigent school girls made during the state of the nation address on 9 February 2012, what is the total (a) number of free sanitary pads that have been distributed in KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) since 9 February 2012 to date, (b)(i) number of schools where the free sanitary pads were distributed and (ii) of these schools, how many are (aa) primary and (bb) high schools and (c) amount that Government is paying for each pad; (2) what are the (a) reasons that the programme is only being rolled out in KZN and (b) timeframes for ensuring that the programme is rolled out in other provinces?
Reply:
The DBE does not provide sanitary towels to schools and neither has such provision been budgeted for. Education stakeholders and partners in the business sector are being lobbied to consider supporting this undertaking within their available means and resources. The Honourable Member is advised to request the information directly from the province concerned.