Periods at school: a guide for teachers

Why it matters

• In a review of 138 Indian studies, 1 in 2 girls (48%) knew nothing about periods before their first one, and 1 in 4 (24%) stayed home from school during their periods (BMJ Open, 2016).
• A teacher is often the only trusted adult a girl can ask.

Plan it

• Agree the class with your principal. Choose a time that is not just before an exam.
• Send a short note to parents. Most parents are relieved that the school is doing it.
• Start from class 5 or 6, before most girls get their first period.
• Keep the group small enough for girls to feel safe, ideally one section at a time.

Prepare yourself

• Read the facts once, so you can speak calmly. Use the correct words: period, vagina, womb, pad.
• Bring a sanitary pad and a clean cloth pad to show. Seeing them takes away the fear.
• Keep a question box (any closed box with a slot) so girls can write questions without their names.

Keep girls safe

• Never ask a girl about her own period in front of others.
• No photos of girls without the school's written permission, and any girl can say no.
• If a girl tells you something that worries you about her safety at home, follow your school's child protection rules.

1. Open (5 minutes). Say why you are here: 'Every girl gets periods. It is normal and healthy. Today you can ask anything.' Agree one rule: no laughing at anyone's question.
2. What a period is (10 minutes). Between about 10 and 15 years, a girl's body starts to grow up. Every month the womb grows a soft lining. When there is no pregnancy, the lining comes out as some blood through the vagina, for 2 to 7 days. This comes about once a month. In the first two or three years it is often irregular.
3. Products and changing (10 minutes). Show a sanitary pad and a cloth pad. Change a pad every 4 to 6 hours, or sooner if it is full. Wash hands before and after. Cloth pads are washed with soap and water and dried in the sun.
4. Clean disposal (5 minutes). Wrap a used pad in paper and put it in a covered dustbin. Never flush it or throw it in the open. Show where the bin is in your school.
5. Questions and close (10 minutes). Open the question box and answer every question you can. If you do not know an answer, say so and find out. End with: 'If you need help, come to me, or call the free menstrual helpline, 85888 70999.'

When to tell a girl to see a doctor

• Bleeding that soaks a pad every one or two hours.
• A period that lasts more than 7 days.
• Pain so bad that she misses school again and again, or faints or vomits.
• No period by 15 years.

Do not give any medicine to a girl. Send her to the school nurse, a doctor, or her parents.

If her period starts in class

• Let her go to the toilet without questions in front of others. Agree a simple signal with your class at the start of the year, for example a raised hand with two fingers.
• Give her a pad from the school's stock, or send her to the teacher who keeps them.
• If she has a stain, give her a jacket, dupatta or spare skirt to tie around her waist. Say nothing in front of the class.

If it is her first period

• Tell her it is normal and that she is not hurt or ill.
• Show her how to use the pad, privately, or ask a woman teacher to help.
• With her permission, let her mother or a family member know, so she gets support at home.

If she has bad pain

• Let her sit or lie down in a quiet place. A hot water bottle on her lower tummy can help.
• Do not give her any medicine. If the pain is very bad, or she faints or vomits, call her parents and the school nurse or a doctor.

If boys tease her

• Stop it at once, calmly: 'Periods are normal. We do not laugh at them.'
• Talk to the boys later. See Guide 5.

The need is real

• 97.3% of India's schools have a girls' toilet, but nearly 40,000 schools have no girls' toilet of any kind (UDISE+ 2024-25).
• When surveyors visited rural government schools, 28% had no usable girls' toilet and 22% had no drinking water (ASER 2024).
• There is no published national count of schools with a working pad machine or safe disposal.

What the Supreme Court has said

• On 30 January 2026 the Supreme Court held that menstrual health is part of the right to life. It directed that girls in classes 6 to 12 get free products, vending machines, safe disposal, education, teacher training and periodic inspection.
• On 1 September 2026 it set the product standard as compostable products meeting ISO 17088 read with IS 5405, pointed states towards reusable cups, period panties and reusable napkins, and ordered surprise inspections.
• Last reviewed 11 October 2026. Check for newer orders before you rely on this.

A simple checklist for your school

• A stock of pads kept with a named teacher, and a spare set of clothes.
• Girls' toilets that are clean, have water and soap, and lock from inside.
• A covered dustbin in every girls' toilet, emptied every day, or a disposal unit if your school has one.
• A quiet place where a girl in pain can rest.
• One teacher who leads menstrual health in the school (a Saarthi; see Guide 6).
• A class on periods every year, for girls and for boys.

Why teach boys

• Most teasing comes from not knowing. A boy who understands periods is far less likely to laugh at a stain or a pad.
• Boys become brothers, husbands, fathers and colleagues. What they learn at school stays with them.

How to do it

• A separate short class for boys works well at first, taken by a teacher they respect. Later, girls and boys can learn together.
• Keep it simple: what a period is, that it is normal and healthy, and that it is never dirty.
• Give them clear things to do: do not tease, do not share photos or videos of anyone's stain or pad, help quietly, and tell a teacher if others tease.
• Answer their questions truthfully. Silly questions usually hide real ones.

Our guides for boys are written for boys aged 10 to 18, in English and Hindi, and can be shared with them directly.

What a Saarthi does

• Makes sure pads are in stock and girls know where to get them.
• Checks that the girls' toilets are clean, have water and lock, and that bins are emptied.
• Arranges a class on periods every year, for girls and for boys.
• Is the teacher girls can come to quietly, with a question or a problem.
• In our programmes, works with School Sakhis: girls from classes 9 or 11 who are peer champions, look after the vending machine, and are the bridge between the girls and our team.

How we train Saarthis

• In our school programmes, we train Saarthis and teachers with Period Bol, our own flipbook and guidebook, in Hindi, English and local languages such as Telugu.
• Programmes are tailored to each district and partner, so what is included differs from one programme to another.