CEDAW/C/PHI/4 English Page 42 143. Region-based education programmes for women provided in the Philippine Plan of Action for Education for All, 1991-2000 are designed to give access to basic education programmes, develop desirable Filipino values, provide livelihood skills training and mobilize women to seek societal responsibilities: (a) Alternative approaches to literacy improvement for women in the coastal areas and cultural communities or Region I; (b) Social communication skills for socially disadvantaged women; (c) Reaching out to the out-of-school youth, unemployed adults, women and disabled persons through continuing education; (d) Development of a learning system for the improvement of life for women in rural communities. 144. Existing and emerging women/gender concerns in the sector are spelled out in the Philippine Plan for Gender-responsive Development, 1995-2025, with the corresponding recommendations. This will facilitate the focused response of governmental and non-governmental organizations involved in the sector. 145. Republic Act 7877, or the Sexual Harassment Act for 1995, has defined sexual harassment in the education, training and work setting and punishes it. Though this is expected to lessen sexual harassment perpetuated by professors who demand "a date for a grade" from their students, mechanisms for its effective implementation still have to be put well in place. Programme/project developments 146. While the aforementioned policies may have curbed gender-based inequalities in access to education, the issue still exists, mainly because of cultural factors. For example, parents tend to give priority to sending boys to school when resources are limited. In other instances, parents are unwilling to send their daughters to study in urban areas (where most of the educational institutions are concentrated) because of the risks to which they might be exposed. 147. The following programmes or projects have been adopted by both governmental and non-governmental organizations to respond to continuing gender-based inequalities, not only in terms of access but more on the content and process of the educational system. 148. School-based centres with childcare workers training by the Department of Social Welfare and Development were established in Ifugao to support older children, usually school-age girls who had to take care of younger siblings while attending school. 149. To reduce the wide gender disparity in literacy rates in the six most depressed provinces in the country, the Female Functional Literacy Programme was pilot-tested in Maguindanao, Lanao del Sur, Sulu, Basilan, Tawi-tawi and Ifugao. Programme beneficiaries are equipped with knowledge, attitude, skills and values that will help them perform their roles in child survival protection and /...