Education with rural development in mind
A farmer observed that young people in his village were leaving in favor of the cities. He thought “if this continues, what will happen to the rural areas?” He figured it out that there must be a way to educate these young people to keep them in their villages and work to develop the rural areas. This way, there is no need for them to look for a better future outside their communities.
Concerned about this situation, he talked to his parish priest to share with him what he has in mind. The priest agreed to help him out. Later, he talked to a few friends and together, they set up an association to start a school. Thus was born the Maison Familiale Rurale (MFR). The year was 1937 in a village in Southern France.
Today, the MFR has spread to more than 40 countries all over the world. They are called in various names: MFR in French-speaking countries, Escuela Familia Agraria (EFA) in Spanish-speaking countries.
The Philippines adopted the model in the 1980s from Spain and called it the Family Farm School. The system of education was adopted for a post-secondary program offered by the Farm Business Schools (FBS). Today, there are 11 FFS and 4 FBS that can be found in Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao. All, except one, are initiated and funded by the private sector.
Last Sept. 3, President Benigno Aquino III signed into law the Rural Farm Schools Act. After 25 years of existence in the Philippines, the government finally gave formal recognition for these types of schools. It is interesting to note that while President Corazon Aquino inaugurated the first Family Farm School as a private initiative in the Philippines on Sept. 8, 1988, her son gave meaning to this type of educational system by signing a law that shall establish it as part of the Department of Education (DepEd) program.
Most importantly, it recognized the need for rural education suited to their situation. Rural areas have specific needs different from those in the urban areas; problems of underemployment, unemployment, leading to urban migration.
Sen. Edgardo Angara, who sponsored the Bill, said, “Traditional educational systems have long been speckled throughout the country. But the rural communities need an educational system suited to their environment and realities. Hence, this bill proposes to promote Rural Farm Schools as an alternative delivery mode of secondary education without sacrificing quality of education. The Rural Farm School shall be a parallel learning system and an alternative delivery mode of secondary education. It is a facilitative and experiential learning on the core subjects of social sciences, numeracy, literacy with focus on agriculture and patterned after the needs of rural, agricultural communities. The last two years shall be devoted to integrative learning with emphasis on farm entrepreneurship to encourage the youth to become local entrepreneurs in their respective rural, agricultural communities.”
Cong. Sharon Garin, who first introduced the Bill at the Congress, put it this way. “Statistics have consistently demonstrated the widening gap between urban and rural development, and concomitantly, poverty incidence. The poverty incidence victimizes a bulk of the agricultural sector who mostly resides in the rural areas, resulting in a vicious cycle of worsening deprivation, marginalization and underdevelopment. Education can also be used in ensuring sustainable agricultural productivity in the country for the coming decades by creating an educational system applicable and fitting to rural, agricultural communities. As such, the youth are not keen in taking professions in the agricultural sector. Proof of this is the dwindling figures of enrollment and number of graduates of agricultural courses. The already low figure of enrollees decreases furthermore as the academic years commence, resulting in disappointingly few graduates of agricultural courses.”
But we cannot simply abandon the rural areas. They supply food and raw materials for many of the needs of the urban population. We also need to develop the rural areas to complement the growth and development of urban areas (so called rurban development pattern). Thus, the need for a special education intervention to address the development of the rural areas cannot be overemphasized.
Experiences in France, Spain and many other developed countries show that we need to develop the rural areas if we are to sustain the momentum of our economic growth that is inclusive. Closer to home, the development pattern of Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, Malaysia, and Thailand illustrates a strong case for agricultural and rural development if the economy were to take a sustained climb after the take off.
Come Nov. 28, the Philippine Federation of Family Farm and Rural Schools (PHILFEFFARS) shall hold its 2nd National Summit. It shall provide a road map on how the new Rural Farm Schools Act can be implemented. In view of the K+12 program of the DepEd, it shall explore how this can be applied to schools opting to offer the entrepreneurship track. The roles of the implementing agencies led by the DepEd together with the Department of Agriculture, Department of Agrarian Reform, Technical Education and Skills Development Authority, and Agricultural Training Institute shall also be looked into. Speakers from France, Peru, and Portugal shall share country experiences on how they have implemented these types of schools in their countries and in other parts of the world. The Summit shall also highlight the Philippine experience for the past 25 years. Interested parties may contact the organizing secretariat at 631-2444 or <[email protected]>.
(The author is a member of the MAP Agribusiness and Countryside Development Committee, and the project manager of the Farm Business School project of MAP and the dean of the MFI Farm Business School. Feedback at <[email protected]> and <[email protected]>. For previous articles, please visit www.map.org.ph)
