School absenteeism for girl learners curbed

School absenteeism for girl learners curbed
A leading producer of cement, PPC, in partnership with Famram solutions and Caster
Semenya brought much needed relief among girl learners of Sinenjongo High School in Slovo
Park (Cape Town) with a donation of 170 PrincessD Menstrual Cups. The initiative enables
and ensures that young girls attending high school for the first time don’t miss out on valuable
class sessions because they may not have access to sanitary ware. The PrincessD Menstrual
Cup comes with a sterilisation cup and can be used for 10 years.
School attendance for many young girls in poorer communities is often interrupted during their
menstrual cycle because many cannot afford sanitary ware. This subsequently affects their
performance and motivation to do well at school. PPC CSI Manager Kabira Akoob says
“Against a backdrop of challenging socio-economic issues facing our society, we cannot afford
to look away and let school absenteeism add to these problems. This is our way of lending a
hand to ensure a girl-child’s path to a successful career has less hurdles. We have seen how
pervasive this problem is across our country, not to mention in the continent. We have to start
somewhere, and we aim to reach more girl learners going forward.”
PPC has already covered a few schools with the PrincessD Menstrual Cup initiative and at
Sinenjongo High School, grade eight learners will be the recipients of the menstrual cups.
Because of the school’s proximity to the PPC Montague gardens operation, the company has
an ongoing support initiative one of which is a collaborative partnership with Star School
programme.
“PPC has provided valuable support for over 10 years through partnering with the Star Schools
programme to provide students with extra classes after school and on Saturdays. It is therefore
great to see the partnership between PPC and Sinenjongo High School continue to grow in
other aspects which benefit our learners,” says Pamela Robertson, Sinenjongo High School
Maths and science teacher.
Education counts amongst the top priority areas on which the company’s CSI initiative is
focused. In building future leaders of tomorrow, PPC is ensuring that leaners and students are
equipped with the right tools and support.
“We are invested in communities in which we operate, and we want to make sure that we also
contribute positively to their needs, and in some of the challenges we have identified,”
concludes Akoob.
End