Access to Menstruation Education for Students

Education about puberty and menstruation is needed to equip girls with the knowledge to help understand their bodies, to dispel fears around menstruation and to support menstrual self-care. Boys also need to understand menstruation to contribute to a supportive social environment. This indicator captures the extent to which students (female and male) are receiving menstruation education, and when combined with data on grade level provides information on the proportion of students receiving education about menstruation in primary and secondary schools, and by class/grade and sex. “Students” was used to capture both females and males.

It is important to note that this indicator does not provide information on the quality of education received. Further, the curriculum may not cover menstruation education on an annual basis, so depending on the grade level sampled, and timing of the survey within the school year there may be discrepancies in the findings. We therefore use “ever” to capture any learning the students may have had during their schooling.
Numerator: Number of students surveyed which have received education about menstruation in primary and/or secondary school.
Denominator: Total number of students surveyed (disaggregated by sex if data available)

RECOMMENDED SURVEY QUESTIONS (Q) AND POSSIBLE ANSWERS (A)

Q: Have you ever received education about menstruation (in school)?
A:
Yes in primary school
Yes in secondary school
Yes in primary and secondary school
No, did not receive education about menstruation in school

Disaggregation by sex can be used to show the provision of education to male and
female students. No age is specified, as age ranges differ per school, area, and country,
but local intelligence on age ranges can be used to derive an estimate as to when
menstrual education is provided to girls.