By Linda Bolido in the Inquirer
Don’t expect to find a farm or students planting rice at Dagatan Family Farm School in Barangay Dagatan, Lipa City.
Despite the name, no actual agricultural work happens on campus. The school is more about preparing students in the communities it
serves for the family livelihood or enterprise which, in many rural
areas, is still farming.
But to learn about agriculture and other enterprises, students go
home or on field visits to other people’s farms or businesses. In
Dagatan, the Philippines’ pioneering farm school, “farm” now encompasses
agriculture-related and other small- and medium-scale enterprises.
The 80 students of Dagatan, which opened in 1988 with 36
enrollees, come from families involved in farming, poultry and livestock
raising, sari-sari stores, buying and selling, and other modest
enterprises.
They are studying not only to earn a high school diploma but
also to help manage or increase the productivity of the family business
and, perhaps, eventually take over from their parents.
As school director Randy B. Pesa says, “They study even as they
work,” a reality in many farming communities where schools often “lose”
students during critical seasons when additional hands are needed on the
farms.
Pesa says many students find, even before they graduate,
solutions to their businesses’ problems and are able to help their
livelihood grow. As a result, many drop the idea of going to college or
postpone it to nurture their businesses.
It is the outcome that the Department of Education is hoping for
with the Kindergarten to Grade 12 (K to 12) basic education scheme,
which aims to offer graduates more options by providing them skills that
will make them employable, especially in their own communities, after
high school.
Dagatan teaches students the basic academic competencies DepEd requires. It also follows DepEd’s 10-month academic calendar.
Where the school significantly differs from the mandated routine
is by alternating formal classroom and home instruction. Every other
week, students stay at home to help in household chores and the family
enterprise.
While academics are not completely out of mind during this time
as students have class work to do, the homestay is meant to be a
mutually enriching experience for both youngsters and adults.
In a journal called a communication book, students record their
experiences, what they learned helping with household chores or the
family business. It shows the kids’ progress and what they learned
during field visits, discussions with professionals and resource
persons, which they are expected to share with their parents.
‘Paksa’
Pesa says that every year, the school board chooses a paksa,
the unifying theme for the year’s instruction that will guide field
visits and professional discussions. For agricultural matters, for
instance, discussions with experts from the University of the
Philippines Los Baños and successful farmers are organized.
Exposure to different means of livelihood and enterprises, Pesa says, helps children decide what they want to be.
The students’ individual profiles and consultations with parents help determine the year’s paksa.
The theme anchors class discussions and is integrated into all
the work. “We try to connect the paksa to every lesson,” Pesa says,
although he admits this is not always easy to do in mathematics.
Guided by their tutors, the students prepare their questions before outings. “Kids have to learn to think and to write….
If they learn how to ask questions they will develop self-confidence… . They learn to write, develop creativity and communication skills,” Pesa says.
“If there are questions that were not answered during the field trip, there will be [professional discussions],” Pesa adds.
Parents’ commitment
Field visits and discussions can involve more than just
enterprise. Pesa says they visited, for instance, the community’s “model
family” to help students clarify or receive guidance on some domestic
issues.
During the homestay, tutors visit the students to make sure
learning continues. Pesa says the first requirement of parents with
children in Dagatan is their commitment.
Parents have to be actively involved in their kids’ education. At
home, they have to make sure school work is done and children complete
every chore.
Parents have to be present during the tutor’s family visits. They
are expected to give an honest assessment if they want to help their
kids develop properly.
The homestay and extensive interaction with the community and
experts are all part of an important aspect of learning at Dagatan, what
Pesa calls formation. Dagatan education has a very strong spiritual and
moral underpinning, owing to the fact that its founders had links to
the Catholic religious group Opus Dei founded by St. Josemaria Escriva.
Pesa says parents also learn and “achieve formation” because they
read and discuss what the kids write in their communication books. Many
parents say they learned, through their kids, new ways of doing things
and solutions to problems.
Parents also have to write or have their children write their personal reflections.
