CEDAW/C/PHI/5-6 Program developments: government Formal Education 302. The education department continuously explores means to maximize its resources through educational reforms, alternative forms of instruction, community-based programs and by building partnerships with community institutions and NGOs towards the delivery of educational service to the Filipino people. It has also included gender-related topics or modules and would be introducing teaching aids for integrating gender topics in selected learning areas. Specifically, a. The elementary education bureau integrated human rights and sex education subjects or modules into the curriculum. b. The department has issued a teachers’ guide containing exemplars of lesson plans for both elementary and high school level where gender issues are integrated in the five learning areas under the 2002 revised educational curriculum, namely: English, Science, Math, Filipino and Makabayan (Social Studies, History, Arts, Technology and Home Economics). The guide has been field-tested in several provinces and duplicated for distribution in 2002-2003. c. Topics related to GAD, particularly Violence Against Women (VAW), have been integrated into the medical curriculum of one of the country’s major universities offering medical courses. With this pioneering effort, negotiations with CHED are under way to integrate a course on the handling of VAW cases in all medical schools in the country. 303. The department has also been evaluating textbooks and teaching materials at all levels as to their gender responsiveness: a. The elementary level, it evaluated new generation textbooks for use in the public schools to make them more gender sensitive and thereby help improve the selfimage, lives and work opportunities of girls, particularly in areas where they have traditionally been under-represented, such as mathematics, science and technology. One gender indicator used to evaluate textbook and textbook materials pertains to the appropriateness of the material and the “gender balance” in treatment of roles, occupations and contributions in the text and illustrations of the textbook. The list of evaluated textbooks given by private publishers was used by children aged six to 12 years in public schools from 1996 to 1999. Of the elementary books on English, Science, Math, Filipino and Sibika/Hekasi that were evaluated in 2000-2001, some 67 books (or 71 percent of the total books evaluated) were approved, or rated appropriate and gender responsive. The following year, approved elementary books totaled 96 (66 percent of total). For high school books on English, Science & Technology, Math, Filipino, and Araling Panlipunan (Social Studies), the department approved a smaller percentage of books evaluated: 47 percent (16 books in all) for 2000-2001, and 38 percent (40 books) in 2001-2002. In addition, the education 86