Education Secretary Leonor Briones underscored the need for organizations - both local and international - to address issues that continue to contribute to the widening gender gap.

Despite the progress towards gender equality made by the Philippines and many countries, the Briones said that there are still wide gaps in many areas.

“This call for the need for vigilance among organizations preventing the widening of the gender gap,” Briones said during this year’s celebration of International Women’s Day (IWD).

In particular, Briones noted a widening gap in areas of economic participation, educational attainment, health and survival, and political empowerment.

Given this, Briones highlighted the need for gender sensitive education - especially in promoting the importance of gender sensitivity education - to be able to narrow the gender disparity.

“We must review our own curricula and materials to ensure that they are gender sensitive to give both girls and boys the value of gender focus,” Briones said.

Gender sensitivity education, Briones added, should also be carried out not only in the culture and arts but also in science and health to amplify the skills that the learners may need to prepare them for leadership roles.

Briones also pointed out that the level of economic development does not correlate to the reduction of the gender gap, thus, greater “vigilance” among organizations is needed.

Meanwhile, Briones assured that DepEd also continues to ensure the opportunities are accessible to learners - especially to girls - even amid the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic.

“In the Philippines, the lockdown begun last year,” Briones said. “We immediately look for solutions to assure that education will continue and girls mainly benefit from continuous educational opportunities which we give to our learners,” she added.

This March, the Philippines is also celebrating the 2021 National Women’s Month Celebration (NCM) which calls for concrete, sustainable, and inclusive actions towards gender equality.