TANDAG CITY, Surigao del Sur – Six coordinators of the School-on-the-Air (SOA) program on Swine Production got their heads together during its post assessment last September 5, 2017 at the Office of the Provincial Agriculturist of Surigao del Sur (OPAg-SDS) located in Tandag City. The purpose of the assessment was to discuss issues and concerns in the implementation of SOA, address problems and make corrective actions, and note lessons learned for the improvement of SOA implementation in the future.

The coordinators who took part in the assessment represented the six municipalities/city of Surigao del Sur that were covered by the radio program. They were: Ailyn G. Tonera (Tandag City), Bebelita C. Revil (Bayabas), Fulgencio P. Melgar Jr. (San Miguel), Lydia I. Gabisay (Cortes), Hazel M. Tato (Cagwait), and Emmanuel A. Manzano (Tago). The assessment was spearheaded by Fritzieli C. Trujillo, SOA anchorperson and Provincial Coordinator of OPAg-SDS, and Ginalyn V. Arbutante, Information Officer II and SOA focal person of the Agricultural Training Institute Regional Training Center XIII (ATI-Caraga).

Among the important matters discussed were: status of SOA program by municipality, results of quizzes and exams, final listing of SOA graduates, submission of requirements, finalization of SOA mass graduation, and criteria in the selection of awardees.

The SOA on Swine Production was broadcast on DXJS Radyo ng Bayan in Tandag City from May to August 2017. Farmer-students who enrolled in the program had to listen to the discussions aired every Monday and Wednesday from 5:00-6:00 in the morning. Coordinators assigned in the municipalities/city are responsible in monitoring the farmer-students and in conducting quizzes and exams to determine the knowledge gained. Only farmer-students who completed the requirements and passed the exams will be included in the roll of graduates. Certificate of completion will be conferred to farmer-students during the SOA mass graduation which is scheduled on September 26, 2017.