After a seven-month break, WAGI resumed its series of webinars for Bicol University (BU) entitled ‘Strengthening our Gender-Responsive Education: A 3 Part Webinar Series for Bicol University’ last August 11, 2021. 

Started in 2020, the webinar series aims to contribute to the effective implementation of national gender and development mandates within BU, strategic gender mainstreaming in BU’s educational policies and programs, and the promotion of safe spaces as a campus culture. 

Among the speakers for the webinar series were Prof. Aurora Javate de Dios (Gender Policy Mandates in Education), Ms. Stella Marquez, (The Politics of Gendered Language), Dr. Tesa de Vela (Gender-Responsive Education from a Care Perspective), and Dr. Melanie Reyes (Principles, Pedagogy, and Evolving Practices in Gender-Fair Education) of the Women and Gender Institute. 

Dr. Noel Rafer, director of the BU Center for Gender and Development (BU-CGAD) welcomed the participants in each webinar alongside other administrators. They remain hopeful that the discussions will deepen the understanding of gender-responsive education within the community and help in charting their strategic ways forward especially in the context of online learning. 

The series continued with the remaining webinars for BU College of Education (Aug. 11, 2021), BU College of Industrial Technology (Aug. 18 and 25, 2021), which were postponed last year, and a new batch for the College of Arts and Letters, College of Sciences, and University Health Services (Sept. 1, 8, and 15, 2021). Each webinar was attended by approximately 30-50 faculty members, administrators, and gender focal points. 

The webinar series is set to resume again later this year for other colleges of Bicol University.