Background and Rationale

To help strengthen the implementation and sustainability of both the Gulayan sa Paaralan Program (GPP) and School-based Feeding Program (SBFP) of the Philippine Department of Education (DepEd), the Southeast Asian Regional Center for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture (SEARCA), the University of the Philippines Los Baños (UPLB) and the DepEd Division of Laguna, from 2016 to 2017, embarked on a collaborative action research project using the establishment of school gardens as an approach. It had a three-pronged objective of improving the nutrition, education and economic well-being of school children. The project titled Participatory Action Research on School and Community-Based Food and Nutrition Program for Literacy, Poverty Reduction and Sustainable Development, also known as School-Plus-Home Gardens Project (eLS+HG), was successfully implemented and piloted in five elementary schools and one secondary school in Laguna, Philippines. As of 2020, about three years after the project ended, the initial six pilot schools have grown to 46 adopted schools and now the S+HGs still continue to spread out.

Mechanisms for sustaining and scaling up the initial success of the S+HGP were designed in a stepwise process where each of the six pilot schools has taken the lead to pay forward and share their knowledge to other schools, particularly the small schools in remote areas. Through participatory approaches, SEARCA and UPLB worked together not only with the pilot partner teachers, the DepEd Division of Laguna, the parents, and the sister schools, but also with the pilot school’s Local Government Units (LGUs) particularly the Municipal Agriculture Office (MAO), the Municipal Nutrition and Action Office (MNAO), the Local School Boards, and the Municipal Councils (local policy making body). The commitment and support of the school, the community, and the local government ensured the sustainability of the project even after SEARCA funding had ended.

The S+GHP emphasized the plus (“+”) factors that contributed to the key accomplishments and sustainability of the project. PLUS refers to the following:

  1. Parents’ high involvement in their children’s nutrition and in tending the school gardens and/or their own home gardens;
  2. Year-round production of nutritious food beyond the school feeding program through the home gardens;
  3. LGU support for garden inputs, capacity building services, and personnel to assist teachers or training of parents to establish home gardens; and
  4. Multi-functionality of the school gardens providing (a) food and nutrition, (b) savings, (c) income supplementation, (d) open learning area, (e) school garden-eco tourism, and as (f) inspirational pocket landscapes.

SEARCA has previously collaborated with UPOU and UPOUFI in the offering of two non-formal online courses on climate change and one on impact assessment and poverty alleviation. SEARCA believes that offering the e-LS+HG through UPOU would allow a wider reach to learners who may benefit from the course.

Target Course Participants

School Teachers, Technical District and Provincial Staff of Ministries/Departments of Education and Local Government Units in SEAMEO Member Countries, specifically:

  • School teachers in charge of Technology and Livelihood Education (TLE) (agri-fishery, home economics), vegetable school garden program or GPP and SBFP coordinators, Alternative Livelihood System (ALS) teachers, Science, Math, English and vocational/livelihood courses/alternative livelihood systems (ALS) courses in SEAMEO member countries;
  • Coordinators of school gardens and school-based feeding programs;
  • Technical Staff of the Departments/Ministries of Education (provincial or district level heads of TLE); and
  • Technical Staff of Local Government Units (LGUs).

Course Objectives

This 16-week online course presents the step-by-step process of establishing or enhancing school gardens as learning laboratories anchored on three important pillars: nutrition, education, and economic well-being of school children and their families.  

Specifically, at the end of the course, the online learner should be able to: 

  1. Review the evolving frameworks, approaches, and initiatives in school gardens vis-à-vis its contribution to food, health, and nutrition security; 
  2. Describe experiences, initiatives, and good practices on school-plus-home gardens in the Philippines; 
  3. Explain key concepts of sustainable development goals (SDGs), food and nutrition, organic agriculture, agrobiodiversity, waste management, climate change, and edible landscaping for integration in the S+HGP; 
  4. Prepare plans for designing, establishing, and sustaining organic school gardens; and 
  5. Develop action plans for engaging and strengthening the capacity of teachers, parents, and local institutions to support, scale up, disseminate information, and promote networking for S+HGP. 

Course Outline

The course will cover the following 10 main modules and corresponding topics:

PART I. Introduction and Project Mobilization

Module 1. Introduction to School Gardens (1 week)

Topics:

  1. Defining School Gardens and Home Gardens and their Potential Benefits 
  2. Foundational Concepts in Developing the Model/Approach for the S+HGP 
  3. Key Factors for Implementing the S+HGP Model/Approach (brief overview only; should mention that these topics will be discussed in more detail in the other modules) 

Module 2.  Participatory Project Mobilization (1 week)

Topics:

  1. Why Should Development Programs be Participatory?   
  1.   Integrating Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in the S+HGP 

III.  Initiating the S+HGP at the DepEd Division Level 

PART II. Establishing School Gardens for Food Production and Nutrition

Module 3.1.  Establishing Baseline Information for School-Plus-Home Gardens (0.5 week)

Topics: 

  1. Identification of Input-Output-Outcome Variables for School Gardens for Food and Nutrition 
  1. Review of Instrument to Measure KAP on Vegetable Production and Consumption   
  2. Understanding Proper Weight and Height Measurement of Children  
  3. Profiling of Target Households 

Module 3.2.  Integrating Nutrition in School Gardens and School-based Feeding Programs (SBFP) (0.5 week)

Topics: 

  1. Introduction 
  1. Establishing Links between School Gardens and School Feeding Program 

Module 3.3.  Sustainable Year-round Production of Organic Vegetables (0.5 week)

Topics: 

  1. Why Aim for Year-round Production of Organic Vegetables in School Gardens? 
  2. Strategies toward Sustainable Year-round Organic Vegetable Production in Schools 
  3. Challenges and Strategies toward Successful Year-round Production of Crops in School Gardens 

Module 3.4.  Basic Soils; Soil Nutrient and Water Management for School and Container Gardens (0.5 week)

Topics: 

  1. Understanding Soil 
  2. Setting up the School Garden 
  3. Soil and Water Management Strategies to Maintain School Gardens 

Module 3.5. Production of Organic Soil Amendments (OSA) (Composting, Vermicomposting, Liquid Plant Supplements, Microbial Inoculants) (0.5 week)

Topics: 

  1. What are Organic Soil Amendments (OSA)? 
  2. Production of Selected OSAs 

Module 3.6. Edible Landscaping of School Gardens (0.5 week)

Topics:

  1. Introduction to Edible Landscaping   
  2. Components of Edible Landscaping 

III.  Phases of Edible Landscaping (Edible Landscaping Triangle)  

  1. Edible Landscaping Ideas 

Module 3.7.Organic Pest Management (1 week)

Topics:

  1. Organic Pest Management (OPM) 
  2. Getting to Know Pests  

III. Major Insect Pests and Diseases, and their Management (Description, Life cycle, Damage/symptoms, Species, Hosts, Management) 

 

Module 3.8.Bio-intensive Gardening (BIG) and Crop Museum (Deep-dug Plots, Seed Saving of Indigenous Crops) (0.5 week)

Topics:

  1. Introduction to BIG  
  2. BIG Contribution to Agrobiodiversity Conservation 
  3. BIG standards (focused on the key practices of BIG that distinguishes it from the usual standard practices in crop production to complement items not discussed in other parts of this course) 
  4. School Crop Museums 

 

PART III. Mainstreaming School Gardens in the School and Community

Module 4: School Gardens for Education—Lesson Plan Preparation (Utilizing School Gardens for Teaching EPP/TLE, Math, Science, English) (1 week)

Topics:

  1. Importance of School and Home Garden 
  2. Integration of School and Home Gardens Concept 
  1. Incorporation of School and Home Gardens in Class Subjects 
  2. Lesson Exemplar Planning and Writing 
  3. Advancement of Target Learners and Benefits of Students 

 

Module 5:  Parent Engagement in School Gardens and Children’s Nutrition (1 week)

Topics:

  1. Why We Need to Involve Parents in S+HGP 
  2. Strategies in Parents’ Engagement in School Gardens and in their Children’s Nutrition 
  1. Establishing Partnership between the School and Priority Children’s Families 
  2. Documenting the Socioeconomic Profile of Malnourished Families  

 

Module 6:  Strengthening Local Government Unit and Community Support (0.5 week)

Topics:

  1. Formalizing Partnership between the School and LGU 
  1. Establishing Partnership Between Students’ Families and LGUs 
  2. Process of Collaborative Bottom-up Budgeting between School, Community, and LGUs to Include School and Home Gardens in Local Funds Formulating Local Ordinances to Support S+HGP 
  3. Examples on Successful Partnership and Implementation of Policies and Local Ordinances to Address Nutrition-Related Issues Initiated through S+HGP (Strengthening Collaboration among Community Stakeholders 

Module 7:  Participatory Progress Monitoring and Performance Evaluation (1 week)

Module 7.1. DepEd’s Standard Monitoring and Evaluation  for School Gardens and School-Based Feeding Program 

Topics:

  1. Understanding the Concepts of Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E)
  1. Exploring the Various Methods of Conducting M&E 
  2. Interview of Concerned School Personnel 
  3. Review of DepEd’s M&E Tools vis-à-vis the S+HGP  
  4. Utilization of M&E Tool for the S+HGP 
  5. Recording and Reporting of Gathered Information 
  6. Revisiting the M&E Tool 

Module 7.2. Participatory Monitoring and Evaluation  

Topics: 

  1.   Overview of Participatory Monitoring and Evaluation (PM&E) 
  1. Applying S+HGP tools for measuring progress and evaluating performance  

 

Module 8:  Information Dissemination and Networking (1 week)

Topics: 

  1.   Importance and Goals of Promoting the S+HG Project with Various Stakeholders 
  2. Considerations in Promoting the S+HGP/Simple Communication Planning Matrix  

III. Additional Tips in Effective Communication through Simple Communication Materials 

 

Module 9:  Inclusive Scaling up of S+HGP (0.5 week)

Topics: 

  1.   Rationale: The Need to Scale-up S+HGP 
  1. The Self-Propelling Approach: Overall Mechanism for Scaling-up of S+HGP 
  2. Horizontal Scale-up: Expanded Multi-stakeholder Community Inclusion 
  3. Addressing Common Concerns on Initiating Scale-up of S+HGP  

Module 10 (1 week)

Module 10.1  Ensuring the Sustainability of the School-Plus-Home Gardens Beyond Project Life 

Topics: 

  1. Approaches to Institutionalization Process  
  1. What is Sustainability Planning? 
  1. Facilitating and Hindering Factors to sustain and institutionalize S+HGP  
  1. Basic Ways to Sustain and Institutionalize Community-based Development Projects 
  1. Case Models to Sustain and Institutionalize S+HGP  

Module 10.2. Institutionalizing the School-Plus-Home Gardens 

Topics: 

  1. Overview of the Institutionalization Process  
  2. Opportunities and Challenges to Institutionalize S+HGP  
  3. Mobilizing Multi-Stakeholder Support to Institutionalize S+HGP  

Enrollment

Interested participants may register online using the Online Sign-up form, or visit the Faculty of Management and Development Studies, UPOU HQ, Los Baños, Laguna. Details of course offering will be emailed a month before the start of class. (This includes the admission form with the assessment of fees and payment procedures.)

Schedule of Course Offerings

For inquiries, please email FMDS at fmds[email protected] or call us at (049) 536-6010.

CEP Enrollment Details

Interested participants may register online using the Online Sign-up form, or visit the Faculty of Management and Development Studies, UPOU HQ, Los Baños, Laguna. Details of course offering will be emailed a month before the start of class. (This includes the admission form with the assessment of fees and payment procedures.)

Schedule of Course Offerings

For inquiries, please email FMDS at fmds[email protected] or call us at (049) 536-6010.

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