For the second time, the National Nutrition Council-Region 02 has successfully produced more than 79 graduates in the recently concluded Nutrition School on the Air or NSOA, in partnership with the government radio station, DWPE Radyo Pilipinas-Tuguegarao.
NSOA for Region 02 first started in 2009 with almost 200 enrollees registered, but only more than half of them was able to complete the ‘schooling’ , and therefore graduated from the short course. All enrollees then were housewives and Barangay Nutrition Scholars (BNS) from the 49 barangays of Tuguegarao City. Due to clamor from former enrollees to have another round of NSOA, and because of their unique experience with the program, the NNC-Region 02 responded positively on this request, thus the second airing of NSOA.
The latest NSOA, which was aired for 12 Wednesdays, from 10:30-11:00 am, centered on the 10 Kumainments or the simplified 10 Nutritional Guidelines for Filipinos. The students/enrollees are still housewives but this time, from all over the province of Cagayan to accommodate those who we were not included during the first round of NSOA. Initially, there were 209 who enrolled but only 79 of them marched for graduation. The number of drop outs or those who did not graduate, was due to incomplete attendance in the duration of the class, while others failed to pass the exam, which was given every after session discussion on air. And so, after 12 straight Wednesdays of airing, only 79 survived, majority of them came from the municipality of Amulung and some were from Peñablanca, Solana, Sta. Ana, Enrile, and Tuguegarao City. The municipality of Amulung graciously hosted the Graduation Ceremony for the graduates this year, with no less than the Local Chief Executive, Mayor Nicanor de Leon who personally welcomed the beaming graduates and other visitors.
The concept of School on the Air (SOA) was developed and introduced by Development Communication (DevCom) practitioners in the country for farmers to be educated and informed about the latest technological development in agriculture and related fields through radio. It uses the concepts of non-formal education, minus the classroom and face-to-face encounter. Under the SOA setup, the radio serves as the classroom and the students are at their homes listening individually or in groups, while the teacher gives the lesson via the airwaves. Every after each lesson, a short quiz is given to gauge the students’ learnings. It has been tested and proven how effective this strategy is, so it is no longer a surprise when other sectors have been using SOA as part of their extension projects in the community. NNC is one of the believers of SOA so it used same method in reaching out to its clients to further promote good nutrition especially in far-flung areas.
