Evaluation Study of the Program on Accelerating Farm School Establishment (PAFSE)

The Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA) has established the PAFSE in 2016 with the general objective of accelerating the establishment of farm schools in all municipalities nationwide. The farm schools accredited by TESDA are advanced farms capable of offering short term agricultural courses recognized under the Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) system of TESDA.

Through this program, poor farmers and fisher folks, their families and relatives, extension workers and facilitators and trainers are provided access to appropriate knowledge, skills, and attitudes in increasing the farm productivity and managing farm operations. This program also offers scholarship grants to its target stakeholders.

TESDA implements this program in close coordination with the Department of Agriculture (DA) and the Department of Agrarian Reform. To date, there are a total of 111 farm schools nationwide under the PAFSE implementing 275 registered programs/ courses.

Evaluation of a national program, such a PAFSE, is deemed important to gain useful insights on what has happened during the program implementation and to determine on whether or not it has achieved its intended outcomes. Evaluation also allows a better understanding of the implementation process and the identification of challenges, operational issues as well as the best practices and learnings.  Results of such program evaluation would significantly inform how the PAFSE program and other similar programs can be further improved.