CEDAW/C/PHI/5-6
651 graduates (or 74 percent) trained in such trade areas as hotel and restaurant management
(29 percent), garments (16 percent), crafts, gifts and housewares (12 percent), food processing
(10 percent), and jewelry (6 percent).
Non-formal/community education
313. The Bureau of Non-Formal Education (BNFE) offers Functional Education and Literacy
Programs in 10 of the 16 regions of the country. Some regions conduct Female Functional
Literacy classes with maternal and childcare as core topics. It has also expanded alternative
non-formal education systems for indigenous communities to include Magbasa Kita (Let Us
Read) that teaches women and girls to read, and established school-based child-minding
centers so that older children, mostly school-aged girls who take care of younger siblings,
could attend classes despite their child-minding task.
314. To meet the needs of persons with disabilities, government implemented a number of programs,
such as educational services and material support from the education department; and from the
social welfare department, a community-based project for children and out-of–school youth
that actively involves family members in the rehabilitation process of children with disabilities.
The latter also has an ongoing project that provides skills training for women with disabilities
in sewing, rattan and toy crafts, food processing, loom weaving, ceramics, and home aide
service. It also enhances women’s understanding and practice of maternal and personal care,
community participation, livelihood, and social communication skills. From 1995 to 1999, it
served a total of 166,293 disadvantaged women nationwide. Of the women graduates, some
136,262 (or 81 percent) were absorbed in the labor force either through self- or open
employment, sheltered workshop or community manufacturing, or sub-contract jobs.
Meanwhile, the National Council for the Welfare of Disabled Persons (NCWDP), with the trade
and industry department, conducted skills training programs on food processing and craft
making in three cities for differently-abled women and for parents or guardians of differentlyabled persons.
315. In 2001, the Philippine Commission on Human Rights (PCHR) launched a campaign to
promote human rights information among the youth, civil servants and the masses. One of its
two projects is implemented in coordination with the education department and involves the
establishment of a human rights desk in educational institutions, which will disseminate human
rights materials and conduct human rights orientation for students and the academe.
Efforts of educational institutions, professional organizations and NGOs
316. An increasing number of universities and colleges are offering women studies. The Women’s
Studies Association of the Philippines (WSAP) has 50 member-schools and over 300 teacher
advocates all over the country. In July 2001, it convened a conference that focused on the
theme of sexism in campus, which involved teachers and researchers in Women’s Studies as
well as young women students who spoke on various forms of sexism that they encountered in
school. Held simultaneously with the conference was a training of guidance counselors on
feminist guidance counseling and non-sexist career counseling. During the period under
review, WSAP members also undertook teacher training and curriculum development on
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