Lessons for all reasons

PUNCHLINE

Ike Seneres

Perhaps it will never happen, but how I wish that good government programs will be spared from being abolished by the new administrations as the new powers would take over. One of the good government programs that became a victim to this political massacre in the past is the former University of Life (UL), a subsidiary of the former Ministry of Human Settlements. UL was an experiment in lifelong learning that also went into distance learning. I was a Fellow at the UL, concurrently assigned as Marketing Director.

It is highly possible that the new administration at that time was under the belief that the Human Settlements concept was an invention of the former First Lady Imelda Marcos, and that was probably the reason why most of the MHS group was abolished, along with the UL. If only they had checked the facts, they would have discovered that the concept originated from the United Nations (UN), and up to now, the UN has kept the concept as a continuing development framework.

As a center of excellence for non-formal learning, the UL would have been relevant up to today, but that is moot and academic now, because only the campus and its buildings have survived. Fortunately, the campus and the buildings have been put to good use, having been turned over for the use of the Department of Education. All is well that ends well I guess, because the DEPED now has a permanent home of its own, even if there was no plan to make it so.

I started my MHS career at Bliss Marketing Corporation, where I worked as a Group Product Manager and Assistant Vice President. The BMC was also another experiment, tasked with the mission of marketing the products from the Bliss housing sites. It was unique because it functioned like a corporation, even if it was 100% owned by the government. I mentioned this because there was actually a connection between the UL and BMC. The role of the UL was to teach the Bliss residents about livelihood, the role of the BMC was to market the products that came out of these sites.

Looking back, it could be said that the collective purpose of the old MHS group was to provide not only housing but also livelihood, and all other basic needs that are part of the Integrated Area Development (IAD) approach. In between all these, non-formal learning was a necessary component on one hand, as well as product marketing on the other hand. All told, the overall approach of the MHS group was not only to alleviate poverty; it was also to reduce poverty, an important distinction that I have not forgotten up to now.

In the sense that the old MHS group had successfully combined housing with livelihood, it had also successfully combined learning through the UL with marketing through the BMC. This is the perfect combination that I would like to revive, not just for products, but also for social, environmental and cultural actions. You might be surprised why I included cultural actions, but I have observed that in many countries, cultural activism has its own place along with social and environmental movements.

Being an incurable optimist, I believe that our people will eventually learn how to segregate garbage and to obey traffic rules if we would continue to provide for their learning needs. Aside from garbage and traffic, there are so many subjects that our people could learn about, and that could even include lessons wherein they could learn how to grow their own food in their own backyards, and how to cook nutritious foods using affordable ingredients. The list of subjects could go on and on, because the need for learning never stops.

Even with the pervasiveness of online learning technologies, it would still be necessary to offer offline learning options for those who do not have access to the internet. To some extent, television programs could also be used, but in the overall, nothing could beat the potential of interactive learning, regardless of whether it is online or offline.

As far as offline learning options are concerned, the most practical venues would be public places such as public parks, public markets and public terminals. That is so because the people who would need to learn are already gathered in these places. This is also where television programs or video materials could be used, because as the saying goes, a picture is worth a thousand words.

In reality, there is actually a thin demarcation between non-formal learning and formal learning, the difference being the academic credits that are given in the latter. As it could probably happen however, the graduates of non-formal learning might even be inspired to take up formal learning courses after taking non-formal courses. Conversely, the graduates of formal courses might even want to take up more non-formal courses to supplement what they already know.

Generally speaking, seminars and workshops would fall under the category of non-formal learning, because no academic credits are given for these courses. In many countries, non-formal learning is considered to be synonymous with lifelong learning or continuing education, among other terminologies. Adult education is also another terminology that is used.

As you can see, non-formal courses could be offered anywhere and everywhere. That being the case, would it not be great if anyone could learn anything anywhere, using any available device, or using any available location? Inspired by this thought, the members of the Corinthian Coffee Clutch are already planning to pilot this idea at the Rizal Park.

As it is now, Dr. Antonio Mateo already has a rainwater collection system installed in the park, and that installation could already be used to teach a course about water conservation. Dr.Pepz Cunanan also has a place in the park that could teach people about organic gardening and urban farming. Anyone interested, let me know.

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