Fierce as she may be perceived physically, but this soft spoken lady exudes beauty and a strong-willed character. She is proof that women have a place and can lead in agriculture, a field considered a male domain.

Serving as the resource person of Episode 5 of Aggie Ps Talk Season 7 aired last September 7 was Dr. Candida B. Adalla. She is the first woman dean of the College of Agriculture and Food Science (CAFS), UPLB. Currently, she serves as an academic member in the Technical Panel for Agriculture (TPA) providing technical expertise to the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) particularly in the development and standardization of curricula for degree program in agriculture.

In her presentation, Dr. Adalla shared the current program standard of the BSA program, an important contribution of TPA for a sustainable and productive agriculture curriculum. She highlighted that this curriculum has incorporated all the significant educational reforms that has been issued in the last decade. These reforms include the K-12 program, the general education curriculum, paradigm shift to outcomes-based-education (OBE), and the Philippine Qualification Framework (PQF) institutionalization. She added that the said reforms are intended to make the program globally comparable making compatibility assured so that BSA graduates will be treated equally in the global market.

Dr. Adalla mentioned that the development of the new curriculum did not happen in a week’s time. It went through a very long period of gestation. They started in 2005 and the final form was approved by the Commission en banc (CEB), the legal and legislative body of CHED in 2018. The TPA is just awaiting for the issuance of CHED Memorandum Order (CMO) so that it will be formally adapted by higher education institutions.

Dr. Adalla presented some salient features of the new BSA curriculum. These are as follows:

1. It will provide academic skills and industry-driven experiences that hope to provide the required knowledge, skills, and values for a professional agriculturist;
2. It is compliant with RA 10467 or the Ladderization Act;
3. It highlights the current developments in agriculture such as food security, organic agriculture, biotechnology, climate change, and sustainable productivity; and
4. It is OBE and K-12 compliant.

Aside from the salient features of the new BSA curriculum, Dr. Adalla also explained about the program’s specification, program goals, and curriculum description. One very important feature of the new curriculum is the career path that the graduates could go into after graduation. She explained that graduates can do research, teaching, and extension. They can also become farm managers of their own farms or be hired as farm managers. They can also work as agriculturists or food technologist. They are now also equipped to venture into entrepreneurship and business or become public administrators for agriculture.

In a nutshell, Dr. Adalla provided two practical highlights of the new curriculum. These are as follow:

1. The first two years of the program are devoted to knowledge and skills acquisition in preparation of TESDA national certification for technical skills needed for employment or agribusiness venture and the GE courses are taken in the later years; and
2. The OJT required for all students is an attempt to capacitate the graduates with an agribusiness mindset and hope to bridge the perceived disjoint among graduates vis- a- vis production and appreciation of the value chain continuum.

Concluding her presentation, Dr. Adalla expressed optimism that if the new curriculum will be properly implemented, it will provide the necessary impetus for agricultural development in the next century.

Watch the video through this link: youtube.com/watch?v=kpZmExgeQCo&t=1184s

(IMGesmundo).