Learners are facing different kinds of gender-related issues inside and outside school premises. These issues involve gender-based stigma, discrimination, violence and stereotyping in education which affect the growth and development of every individual. Department of Education (Deped) as one of the government agencies was mandated by international and national law to institutionalize Gender and Development (GAD) practices to ensure gender equality of all learners and promote Education For All (EFA). This study focused on the Gender-Responsive Basic Education (GRBE) practices and desired to find out the responsiveness of schools in terms of school facilities and structures, policy and plan formulation, benefits of GRBE and gender – responsive curriculum among schools in Calatagan District. One hundred forty-nine (149) nationally-funded teachers from eight (8) selected elementary schools from the district were used as the respondents of the study. The researcher used mixed method approach to assess the extent of responsiveness of different schools as regards to GRBE practices. Data gathered through questionnaires were statistically analyzed using Paleontological Statistics software package for Education and Data analysis (PAST version 3.16) and one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) to identify the significant differences among the practices of the schools. Results of the study revealed that school facilities and structure, policy and plan formulation, benefits of GRBE and gender-responsive curriculum were well-recognized by the schools as important factors in promoting GRBE to learners. A gender and development model was formulated as a framework to continually strengthen GRBE practices among schools and consistently promote gender sensitivity among basic education stakeholders.
Keywords: Gender-responsive, gender equality, gender sensilivity, gender-related issues, gender-based stigma, stereotyping, Calatagan