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The main focus of this study was to examine the influence of girls’ changing rooms on participation to learning among secondary school girls in Kongwa District in Dodoma region. The study employed a concurrent research design as a study design and mixed method approach. A total of 143 respondents were involved in the data collection to include 1 DEO, 5 WEO, 6 Head of School, 83 Teacher, and 48 form three students. The study employed questionnaire, interview, Focus Group Discussion, document review and observation as data collection methods. The findings revealed that, stakeholders’ awareness of girls’ changing rooms among secondary school teachers was high, though some secondary schools had no girls’ changing rooms in place. In secondary schools with girls’ changing rooms, the situation was found to be unbearable for sanitary purposes due to absence of necessary sanitary resources in the girls’ changing rooms. School management teams demonstrated positive perception on the need for girls’ changing rooms within the school premises, attributing their existence to the improved participation in learning among secondary school girls. It was also found that, school management teams were supporting secondary school girls during menstruation by making little contribution for them to get sanitary pads in school. For schools with girls’ changing rooms, perception of secondary school girls on the use of sanitary facilities was high compared to those without girls’ changing rooms. However, in secondary schools with no girls’ changing rooms, the way school girls cope with menstruation was risky due to lack of sanitary facilities. Findings indicated that, for secondary schools with girls’ changing rooms and adequate sanitary resources, participation in learning for girl students was good compared to secondary schools with no girls’ changing rooms fully equipped with sanitary resources. It is concluded that, despite the availability of girls’ changing rooms in some secondary schools, the challenges tend to emanate from lack of necessary sanitary facilities, making them less user-friendly. The study recommends that, the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology through Presidents’ Office Regional Administration and Local Government (PO–RALG) should make girls’ changing rooms compulsory for both day and boarding secondary schools so as to increase participation of girl’s students in learning. |
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