The National Students Union of Taiwan (NSUT) addressed the Education Ministry today calling on them to fulfill their promise of addressing period poverty. The union claims that while the intentions are good, the rollout of the program is “not ideal” and could be improved with more stable funding and by schools actively promoting the policies.
“Period poverty” refers to the financial burden born by people who menstruate, or more broadly, the lack of access to safe and clean menstrual products or sanitation facilities. Former Education Minister Pan Wen-chung (潘文忠) announced last year that, starting from August 1, free menstrual products would be provided in schools across Taiwan, with a plan to allocate NT$200 million (about US$6.26 million) to the policy.
However, the NSUT alleged that according to official documents, the rollout is less than ideal. They cited several points, such as the fact that universities are required to provide their own budget or reallocate funds from other projects. Also, the bureaucracy of how and where to get the products slows down the process so much that it prevents the program from helping those in most desperate need, the union said. Further, some universities have not promoted the program, so students are generally unaware of the assistance in the first place.
NSUT President Weng Hsin-jou (翁歆媃) called on the Education Ministry to reevaluate its space and method accessibility and to provide funding subsidies to get the policy off the ground. The NSUT has offered a reference formula for the funding subsidies and expressed the hope that the ministry will be more active in tackling perhaps the most insidious part of period poverty– myths and misinformation– through education.