OFFICIAL WEBSITE OF THE PROVINCE OF ZAMBOANGA SIBUGAY     ATI EYES 500 STUDES FOR SCHOOL-ON-THE-AIR   Five hundred (500) students or participants are expected by the Agricultural Training Institute (ATI) of the Department of Agriculture (DA) to enroll in its regular University/School-on-the-Air Program which will officially start next month. ATI-Zamboanga Sibugay Satellite Office Team Leader, Virgie V. Cabrera, shared in an interview on Tuesday, November 15, that her request to increase the number of expected enrollees from 300 to 500 was finally approved. She (Cabrera) further expressed that majority of the beneficiaries of the said school over the radio will be coming from the different organizations, clubs and other farmers’ associations in the province of Zamboanga Sibugay. “Our request to make it to 500 was approved and we are expecting that many will join. Most of them will come from farmers’ groups and associations as well as clubs and organizations here in our province”, said Cabrera. Out-of-school youths (OSY) are also expected to enroll in the said program. In the province, enrollment forms are already distributed and made readily available to the different Municipal Agriculturists’ Offices (MAO) and the latter are already instructed to accept interested enrollees. It was also revealed by Cabrera that this time, the topic of the said school-on-the-air is “rice and corn recipes” and farmers are expected to take part in this very educational and unique way of learning the basics and advanced techniques and strategies in farming. The program, according to the ATI-Sibugay Team Leader, had greatly helped farmers in their daily farming activities since day one way back in the year 2004. “We expect that many will once again participate in this kind of learning because ever since we launched this project here in Sibugay, it helped farmers a lot in their daily farming activities. The school-on-the-air served as their guides in farming the right and appropriate way”, added Cabrera. The radio classes will more or less take three (3) to four (4) months followed by an evaluation or examination and graduation will soon follow. Cabrera also urged people of all walks of life to join their regular radio classes and learn things about farming the fun and exciting way through listening to local radio stations. “Everything is for free so I am encouraging all to join and participate in our school-on-the-air classes. It’s a way to learn everything about farming in a more unique and fun way”, Cabrera ended. The School On-the-Air is a mode of distance learning and it is a part of the e-Extension program of ATI.