The Ministry of Education’s program to allocate NT$200 million (US$6.25 million) to subsidize feminine hygiene items for students was not properly implemented in schools, the National Students’ Union of Taiwan (NSUT) said during a protest yesterday.
The ministry last year launched a program to resolve “period poverty” for students, but some colleges said they did not receive the funding, while others required students to register to use the items.
National Chengchi University Student Association vice president Hsu Ruei-er (許瑞兒) said her school did not actively inform students about the locations of feminine hygiene items and only provided them for students with urgent needs, for fear that the resource might be misused.
Photo: Rachel Lin, Taipei Times
The ministry should draw up a dedicated budget, and establish standards and guidelines on access to the items, Hsu said.
However, some universities did properly use the funding, NSUT Student Rights Committee member Hsiao Cheng-chieh (蕭正傑) said, citing two universities as examples.
National Sun Yat-sen University allocated hundreds of thousands of New Taiwan dollars to purchase feminine hygiene products and placed them on each floor of its school buildings, while National Taiwan Normal University provided the resources at three designated areas, and told teachers and students where it was, he said.
Photo: Taipei Times
NSUT chairwoman Weng Hsin-jou (翁歆媃) said that they admire the ministry’s continued efforts to promote gender equity education, but they must also follow-up on its implementation at schools.
The ministry should learn more about students’ feelings and opinions, and investigate the need for different types and brands, she said, adding that the subsidy should be provided according to the situation of the school to ensure that they offer students the resource in an accessible and friendly way.
In response, the ministry yesterday said that disadvantaged students can apply for a financial grant for living expenses, which would cover feminine hygiene items and reduce their financial burden.
As for students with urgent needs, schools should provide various feminine hygiene items in student health centers, dormitories or other accessible sites, it said.
Feminine hygiene items can also be sold in convenience stores or vending machines on campus, the ministry added.
According to the ministry’s “guidelines on the provision of various feminine hygiene items on campus and ministerial facilities,” schools are advised to “respect users’ thoughts and privacy by adopting an empathetic approach to providing the items, and refrain from attaching labels to users, so as to relieve their mental burden,” the ministry said.
Schools could establish their distribution system based on the guidelines and let their gender equity education committee decide how to provide the resource in a student-friendly way, it added.
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