For the time being, there will be no nationwide equipment of the sanitary rooms of all Brandenburg schools with free tampons and bandages. The red-black-green government coalition and the opposition AfD rejected a motion by the BVB/Free Voters parliamentary group in the state parliament on Wednesday. This should ask the Ministry of Education to order this equipment by circular. The Free Voters had justified their application with the fact that girls with little money in particular should have easier access to the hygiene articles.
SPD MP Elske Hildebrand explained in the debate that equipping schools is a task for the municipalities. This is already being implemented in four districts and in the state capital Potsdam. It is to be welcomed if other districts and urban districts decide to take this step.
With the majority of the government factions it was decided that the municipalities should be encouraged to implement such projects. In the first quarter, it should then be checked whether there will be a nationwide supply at the schools in the country by then. In addition, the state government should examine the appropriate equipment in state-owned buildings and the state parliament is also asked to make tampons and sanitary napkins available in the women’s toilets in the future.
The AfD MP Daniela Oeynhausen spoke of an “inflated debate”. She also pointed out that equipping schools with these hygiene articles is a matter for the municipalities and the school authorities and not for the state parliament. These articles could be handed out in school secretariats, said Oeynhausen. “They pay for it out of petty cash, it doesn’t need any money from the state,” she said. (dpa)
