DoSM data shows achievement gaps between women, men

MUKAH (Nov 3): The achievement of women surpassed men in the Education Achievement Sub-Index with a score of 1.067, said Minister of Women, Childhood and Community Wellbeing Development Dato Sri Fatimah Abdullah.

Quoting from the Statistics on Women’s Empowerment in Selected Domains Malaysia 2021, released by the Department of Statistics Malaysia (DoSM), she said the achievement of women in Sarawak also recorded a higher score than men, with 1.003.

“A score of 1.0 is what indicates equality in achievement, which involves opportunity and participation, between women and men.

“There are also still achievement gaps between both genders in Sarawak, particularly in the political domain, with a score of around 0.120; the economic opportunity and participation domain with a score of 0.644; and the health and life domain with a score of 0.961,” she said this at the closing ceremony for the division-level ‘Women Leadership Programme’ (WLP) 2024 at Kingwood Hotel here today, which gathered 30 participants.

The three-day, two-night programme was conducted by distinguished speakers, including Dato Dr Madeline Berma, Dr Faridah Shahadan, Shazlinda Yusof, and Angela Deborah.

Recognising the significant equality gaps in the domains, Fatimah said her ministry had designed and implemented various programmes and initiatives aimed at bridging these gaps, through the Sarawak Women and Family Department (JWKS).

“In an effort to enhance women’s leadership capacity, JWKS has been implementing the Women Leadership Training Programme (WLTP) since 2019 to hone the soft skills of leaders and future leaders.

“Such efforts are crucial to ensure that women are actively involved and able to contribute to the socio-economic development of Sarawak.

“As of October 2024, 17 series of women’s leadership capacity-building programmes have been conducted, with 455 participants from across Sarawak.

“The JWKS had carried out the training programme in two divisions, namely Limbang and Mukah,” said Fatimah.

“A new initiative, the Leadership Boot Camp for Youths, was also run in Sibu and Miri. It aimed to prepare the younger generation by fostering leadership qualities and increasing confidence in actively engaging within the community.

“Participants included Form 6 students and students from public and private higher education institutions,” she added.

Additionally, Fatimah hoped that the Mukah Division WLP would produce more capable, confident, and visionary women leaders who will contribute to development and become pillars of leadership in Sarawak in the future.

Also present were Deputy Minister in the Premier’s Department (Law, Malaysia Agreement 1963 and State-Federal Relations) Datuk Sharifah Hasidah Sayeed Aman Ghazali; Women and Family Department director Salmah Jobeli; and Dalat District officer Mohamad Rashdan Hazemi.