Malta's secondary students to have free period products at school by year's end
The project, titled ‘End the Stigma. Period!’ aims to encourage open discussion on the subject.
Secondary school students will soon have free period products available at school, Equality junior minister Rebecca Buttigieg said.
On Thursday, Buttigieg said that all of Malta’s secondary schools in Malta and Gozo are receiving machines that will provide free period products to students.
By the end of this year, Buttigieg said the government will have installed period product machines in the 50 or so state, church, and private secondary schools in Malta.
Speaking at Thomas Moore Secondary School in Żejtun, Buttigieg said the initiative is expected to reduce the financial burden on families by giving over 11,000 students access to free menstrual products.
The measure will cost half a million euros, she said.
This new policy complements this year’s budget measure, which removed VAT on these essential products, Buttigieg said.
The project, titled ‘End the Stigma. Period!’ aims to encourage open discussion on the subject, which should not cause any shame, Buttigieg said adding that discussing periods and issues surrounding it should not cause any shame.