Not a year went by without School-on the-Air since I worked at ATI in Eastern Visayas. Simply, it’s when agri-lessons are made accessible for everyone who has transistor radios with a reliable radio frequency in the locality - which in our case - the province.
The aim to inform a wider audience, through a single radio program, is quite a challenge for a region where some areas don’t have access to radio signals. With this, local partners in the program implementation put forth their time and effort to serve the target clients. Local partners such as the Local Government Units through the Agricultural Services Office, its staff, and personnel, make it possible for farmers to enroll and be part of the program. That is to say, Agricultural Extension Workers who served as SOA facilitators are the SOA lifeline at ATI in Eastern Visayas.
Along with a well-performing radio frequency in the province, the SOA facilitators equally provide a significant role in SOA’s success. As extension partners, co-implementing programs with them is an established strategy. As challenging as it is already, 2021 also brought the highest SOA target for the year, not the usual hundreds, but thousands. Though I know, with the right people on board, I’ll make it through alive -maybe under target - yet never unaccomplished.
Virtual Teamwork
We all know how tough the year has been with the ongoing pandemic especially for programs that involve field and face-to-face activities. This includes the SOA process where students are required to fill out and submit various forms throughout the program duration.
I had to make adjustments with the implementation when facilitators would inform me that they need to, or they already are in quarantine. That means they cannot go out and do fieldwork which also translates to delays. Adjustments have to be made, deadlines need to be moved to consider the different situations that facilitators are experiencing in the field. I would sometimes hold a meeting by batch: Google Meet with those who have an internet connection, or conference mobile call to those who couldn’t.
SOA facilitators do all the fieldwork and coordinate requirements to the students - conduct surveys, enrolment, and manage the exams - and they sometimes work beyond office hours if the need arises. Thankfully, coordinating with the facilitators online is not much of a hassle except for that one instance when offices closed and the signal was down because of a typhoon. Internet connection, although sometimes difficult to find, and mobile signal is available and virtual teamwork is possible.
“Madedelay, pero makakarating”
Local Government Units, at one point, also heightened travel restrictions, and sending supplies to the different municipalities which include SOA essential such as radio - and returning defective supplies - also posed another challenge. To this I would say: “Pasensya na po.. Siguradong madedelay pero makakarating”. A statement that would also be relayed by the facilitators and sometimes frowned upon by recipients, to which that facilitators must also be able to handle with patience and more patience when plans don’t go as scheduled. It may not be an encouraging statement as is, but it’s the only reassurance to the enrollees that supplies are available. That, despite delays and changes, the program will continue.
Working with limited resources
SOA facilitators are not all regular employees in their respective offices. As a team, they have learned to become resourceful to work with a larger number of target clients and accomplish the assigned tasks. On urgent requests at the start of the week, I would get a joking remark: “Ma’am wala po bang budget pang-gas,” and I get that it’s half meant. Not all offices have abundant resources since supplies are spread to other activities as well. But, they try to make things work, get things done and submit their deliverables.
However, SOA facilitators also know when to put things on hold or stop when necessary. They’ve got a limit, too. Only at times when they already reached a certain limit on follow-ups and reminders sent to their clients most especially when these clients prefer to discontinue with the program. It’s already a risk to go on the field nowadays, deliver the assigned tasks, and be able to work as healthy as possible. After all, SOA facilitators are also a limited resource.
A year has gone by, agri-extension programs will continue in the coming months with another round of SOA programs in the plan; the facilitators deserve to know that they are and will always be a SOA life line.