Sustainability of gulayan sa paaralan in Lepanto Elementary School

UNDER the K to 12 basic education curriculum, the Department of Education (DepEd) in the Philippines creates children’s awareness about production of more food on the table, through vegetable gardening within the scope of Home Economics and Livelihood Education (HELE) subjects in the elementary and the Technology and Livelihood Education (TLE) subjects in the secondary, in order to nurture resiliency and sustainability of scarce resources in localized and contextualized ways. This awareness on sustainable development increases the need for children’s protein requirement to eat vegetables in order to be healthy, without buying them in the market; but relying on the bounty of their own school vegetable gardens.

In 2006 to 2010, Administrative Order (AO) No. 11, Section 1 of the Department of Agriculture (DA) deputizes DepEd as one of the agencies to implement the “Gulayan ng Masa” (veggies for the masses) – as a potential family farm program that “empowers the poor living in the rural areas with high hunger and malnutrition incidence by enhancing their capability to

produce their own food through adoption of integrated backyard gardening”.

The role of DepEd is to campaign for the entire community, where the school is situated, to put up an integrated garden in school and a nursery (NGP requirement as stipulated through DepEd Memorandum No. 58) – a functional backyard garden for the entire community, to be managed through a concerted effort of the school officials and families, to ensure sustainable

growth, so that hunger is minimized.

Department of Education (DepEd) implemented the “Gulayan sa Paaralan”(School Garden) program in all public schools in the Province of Benguet. The program aims to address problem of malnutrition among school children and this can be addressed by the Gulayan sa Paaralan project which serves as the main source of commodities to sustain supplementary feeding.

Lepanto Elementary School participated in this program since it was implemented by DepEd. Its goal is t o implement project “Gulayan sa Paaralan” to increase food production and to utilize available space in the school.

Gulayan sa Paaralan is always included as one of the criterion in differentiated search such as: Most functional Gulayan sa Paaralan, Search for Clean and Green, and Best School Clinic Implementer. The LES through its Municipal counterpart, helps in providing organic pesticides (wood vinegar) as well as encouraging the organic gardening technologies. Organic gardening is emphasized as a technique in planting vegetables without the use of any chemicals or synthetics. The objective is to produce crops which have the highest nutritional values with least impact on nature.

In school year 2010-2011, teachers of LES agreed to come up with an income generating project. This was coordinated by Mrs. Maria Delina N. Tapoc until school year 2013-2014 under the leadership of Mrs. Alice P. Guadana, the School Principal. Through the effort of Faculty and Staff, parents, pupils, the School Garden was sustained.

With the coming of a new school head in the person of Mrs. Karen B. Tegan, she continued supporting the Gulayan sa Paaralan with the new Gulayan Coordinator Carmelita M. Balas. The location of the garden was transferred below the H.E. Building to give more space for the primary grades to play.

The School Administrative Aid and male teachers took charge in measuring the area for vegetable garden equivalent to more than 200 sq. m. to meet the exact specification. The site was separated, intended really for gardening. The location of the garden has a hollow block fence which prevents stray animals from entering and destroying the plants.

The Diamond pipe donated by the Lepanto Consolidated Mining Company was put up to serve as post in the garden. Black net was also put up to protect the plant from direct sunlight.

For the educational purposes, it was designed as real vegetable garden with a systematic way of grouping the vegetables.

During Brigada Eskwela, volunteers are being utilized to help in the preparation of the garden ready for planting of corn, beans, sweet camote, ginger, green onions, camoteng kahoy, tomatoes, ampalaya, okra, sayote, allugbati, papaya,romaine, pechay and gabi. Parents were also requested to continue to bring sunflower leaves that will serve as fertilizer for the plant.

Every now and then it’s so heartwarming to note that the Gulayan sa Paaralan Program has long been implemented in the Municipality of Mankayan. Lepanto Elementary School continuously widens the areas for vegetable production. At present assorted vegetables were planted and some areas were planted with bananas. Products were consumed by wasted pupils, parents, teachers and some pupils. Seeds produced were utilized by planting it again. Gulayan is not only teaching students on how to properly plant the seeds and even gain profit out of it, moulding students to become young entrepreneurs but also multiplying the good effect to the community.

Gulayan coordinator Carmelita M. Balas , Faculty and Staff, said the project raises public awareness that schools are also one of the best venue to disseminate information to children on the importance of producing and eating vegetables. They also emphasized the significance of establishing school vegetable gardens or “Gulayan sa Paaralan” in public elementary schools to address malnutrition problem which affects some children in public schools thus, the program continue to go on through the years. Carmelita Mitas Balas