GOOD PRACTICE OPTIONS OF ACADEME – COMMUNITY LINKAGE TOWARDS POVERTY ALLEVIATION*

1. GOOD PRACTICE OPTIONS OF ACADEME – COMMUNITY LINKAGE TOWARDS POVERTY ALLEVIATION* WILFREDO G. OLANO, Ph.D. SUC Pres. III, CSSAC CELY S. BINOYA, Ph.D., PROF. 6 Paper presented during the Senior Educators’ Assembly on Environmental Protection and Management of PATLEPAM on Oct. 13-14, 2005 in Tagaytay.

2. Objectives of the Presentation • Describe some poverty alleviation programs carried out by CSSAC in partnership with the community • Highlight the good practices • Present accomplishments • Provide learning insights in program implementation

3. Coverage of the Paper • Curriculum – Based Approach To Rural Education And Training For Poverty Alleviation (1997 – date) • Dual System of Vocational Training (1997-2002) • Community Learning Program (2002- date) • Technology Approach to Poverty Alleviation • Carabao Development Program (1994 – date) • Sloping Land Management Program (2002 – date) • BALIKATAN PROJECT (1998-1999)

4. Curriculum – Based Approach To Rural Education And Training For Poverty Alleviation (1997 – date) • Program Description • The Bachelor of Science in Agriculture (BSA) major in Agricultural Extension was offered to carry out effective rural education and training in rural communities. • Its goal is to develop graduates who are: • Effective change agents • Experts in the use of extension delivery approaches and methodologies • Can encourage farmers and entrepreneurs to adopt appropriate farming technologies that can increase farm productivity and improve their quality of life • Can assist in alleviating poverty among the poor clients – the farmers.

5. The BSA major in Agricultural Extension curriculum is a 4-year course. • The first two years include the study of general education subjects • The last two years are concentrated on Agricultural Extension as a major field. • There are 46 units of major subjects, which include 6 units of Internship or Field Practicum course. • No major student is allowed to go out on internship if he fails in any major subject.

6. Teaching – Learning Process • Educational strategies are designed to provide students with theoretical and technical / practical skills in extension delivery systems • Relates theory with practice. • Internship was required to give students the opportunity to participate in actual development undertakings and farm activities in the rural communities.

7. Objectives of the Internship • Acquaint the students with the actual farm / community conditions to enable them to integrate theoretical knowledge and principles learned in the classroom with actual farm/community situation; • Provide the students opportunities to work with varied people in the agriculture industry and practice leadership in the community; • Enable the students to demonstrate the application of sustainable technologies in farming;

8. Objectives of the Internship • Enable the students to learn supervisory practices and managerial skills through familiarization of the various phases in the project development cycle; • Enable the students to resolve problems that beset projects, the agricultural industry and the community; and • Serve as basis for assessing the strengths and weaknesses of the curriculum.

9. GOOD PRACTICES • The venue of students’ internship/immersion are the selected Non-Government Organizations (NGOs), Local Government Units (LGU’s) and People’s Organizations (PO’s) or private cooperators, especially when there are employment opportunities for the graduates. • Immersion covers a period of three months giving the students ample time to practice their field of specialization in the community before graduation and learn from such experience.

10. Only those who are officially enrolled in AGEX 200 and have satisfactorily completed pre-internship orientation trainings are allowed to go on internship. These ensured the readiness of the students to undertake immersion activities • Accomplishment of the following forms before immersion are also required to ensure success of students embarking on the activity: Medical certificate Consent of parent of guardian (notarized)

11. Student pledgeGroup insuranceNotarized Waiver • Memorandum of Agreement between the College and the community should be signed first before fielding. • Officials of the cooperating LGUs and barangays or NGOs are invited on the last day of the Internship • ORIENTATION on partners’ roles and MOA signing follows. • Each student and all partners are given copies of the MOA as guide during the whole duration of internship.

12. Internship activity is holistic and covers the following areas: • Situational analysis • Action Planning • Partnership / Linkage Development • Project Proposal Preparation • Capability Building / Training • Resource Generation and Mobilization for Enterprise Development and Management

13. Participation in Local Governance and promotion of local ordinances • Development of Home and Community Values: • Bayanihan (teamwork and cooperation) • Thrift • Spirituality • Self-reliance • Promotion of Sustainable Agriculture technologies / practices

14. Gender and Development • Training for skills development of women • Training for skills development of men • Assistance to Day Care activities • Environmental Management • Tree planting • Composting • Zero Waste Management • Monitoring and Evaluation of Development Interventions

15. Highlight of Accomplishments

16. Pictorials

17. Learning Insights • Partnership and linkage development is necessary to maximize the use of limited resources of the interns and the community. This also ensures complementation of activities of the interns with other development organizations that are already serving the area. • The learning experiences of the students in the field reinforce those that they learn in school.

18. Learning Insights • Through internship, the students are able to validate the effectiveness of various extension approaches and methodologies in achieving the goals of extension work. • The students’ interaction with the people in the rural communities, particularly in addressing their day-to-day problems in farming is indeed very rewarding.

19. Learning Insights • The students sharpen not only their manipulative and technical skills, but more so, their managerial and entrepreneurial abilities. • While learning and undergoing hands-on experience on the various activities in the project development cycle, the students and teachers are also given the rare but most wanted opportunity to serve the poorest sector of society, the farmers and help alleviate poverty in the service community.

20. The Dual System of Vocational Training (DSVT) • The DSVT is a dual system of education for micro-enterprise development • Carried out in partnership with Kolping Society of the Philippines • It is an alternative educational system that combines both the formal and the non-formal system of education. • The classroom is where the farms are, not limited to the confines of the school.

21. Lecture / discussion is limited to giving tips on the “how to’s” and on things not very clearly understood by the learners, who are usually adults. • Lecture-demonstration, learning by doing, analyzing result of a farm practice, cross visits to peer - farms and peer teaching are some effective teaching strategies used in the DSVT.

22. Objectives of the Program • Provide educational opportunity to the out-of –school youth, farmers and rural women to study for a more gainful employment; • Provide knowledge and skills for graduates of other courses who opted to concentrate on farming as their livelihood activity; and • Inculcate the value of hard work, diligence, self-reliance, self-discipline, among others.

23. Good Practices in Program Implementation • The curriculum is a 2-year course with three major fields of specialization: Animal Production, Horticulture, and Food Technology. • Each semester is a terminal course • Students earn a certificate of completion at the end of the semester.

24. General Education Subjects in the Curriculum • English for Specific Purpose • Applied Mathematics • Values Education • Computer Education • Farm Management • Sustainable Agriculture • Soil Science

25. Major Subjects

26. Conduct of Classes and Teaching Strategies • Formal classes are conducted once a week, every Saturday • Morning session for GE courses • Afternoon for technical/major subjects • On weekdays, learners are given tasks to be done in their own farms or in cooperator’s farm • Teacher conduct field visit /evaluation once a month or when necessary

27. Teaching Strategies • Participatory planning (for identifying course content) • Lecture / discussion - limited to giving tips on the “how to” in farming • Lecture-demonstration • Learning by doing • Field practice analysis, comparative studies • Cross visits to peer farms • Peer teaching • Peer group as learning team • Peer evaluation

28. Developing a Learning Team • Learners organized to a society/coop • Opened display stores in one area • Organized agri-trade fairs on special occasions • Helped each one in improving and promoting their products • Joined healthy competitions conducted by the DA and other organizations along landscaping, floral arrangements, etc.

29. The Teachers • Retired teachers with agribusiness projects are preferred • Experienced Professors known for their skill and competence in operating an agribusiness • activity becomes part of his community or extension service.

30. Monitoring and Evaluation • Attendance of learners and faculty are regularly checked using prescribed forms • Common evaluation criteria is followed by the faculty in all major fields • Students with at least 85% of the required study period is given certificate of completion at the end of the semester • Attendance to the 4-semester course graduates with a diploma

31. Accomplishments • Pictorials

32. Learning Insights • The curriculum which is anchored on the VMGO of the university or college should include courses / subjects that would build the capability and competence of learners in running a business while in school, more so after graduation. • Support institutions like DOST and other agencies can be tapped for funding students’ entrepreneurial activities. Policies along this line should be properly formulated and implemented for best results.

33. Advisers should emphasize development of entrepreneurial skills and favorable characteristics among the student entrepreneurs to ensure that they will really stay in the business that they have started. • Subject matter content of the college curricula should include values formation and hands-on activities for students to develop appreciation towards enterprise development as an employment alternative.

34. Support facilities and services, other than credit, should be made available to student entrepreneurs to ensure project success. • Community support is necessary to sustain the learning needs of their scholars in the DSVT.