21 Feb 2020

Kidscan advocate for free sanitary products in schools

From First Up, 5:53 am on 21 February 2020

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31 schools are providing the government-funded free school meals, but Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern says they plan to extend it to 21,000 students in 120 schools by the start of next year. But there are more than 2500 schools in New Zealand, and many children come to school without a packed lunch. 787 of those schools are helped by the charity KidsCan, who provide food and clothing, as well as hygiene items like sanitary products. They'd like the government to fund menstrual products in schools, after a recent Youth 19 survery found just over a fifth of students in decile one schools missed school because of period poverty. Indira spoke to KidsCan CEO Julie Chapman.