Mariano Marcos
State University

MMSU trains extension workers in community diagnosis and analysis

By Ian Paul Villanueva

The MMSU Extension Directorate trained 25 extension workers from across different colleges in the university on community diagnosis and analysis on September 21 and 22 at the Center for Flexible Learning (CFL).

Titled “From Community Insights to Extension Action: Training on Community Diagnosis and Analysis,” the training aimed to capacitate the university’s extension workers with the skills to conduct systematic, participatory, and data-driven community diagnoses.

Community diagnosis and analysis are foundational in assessing target beneficiary communities for their specific needs. By mastering these processes, the university’s faculty extension workers are guided on the necessary steps and requirements to implement more impactful, evidence-based programs tailored to the specific banner projects of their respective disciplines.

The specialized training was designed to equip participants with core extension competencies through a mix of expert-led lectures and practical workshops. It follows the successful training of an earlier batch in April this year, where 40 faculty members were trained to use participatory diagnosis to address local community needs effectively.

Spearheaded by Ms. Abegel Joson, Chief of Technology Promotion and Demonstration, the two-day capacity-building activity featured a comprehensive learning track. Extension Director, Dr. Marlowe Aquino, discussed the core principles of community diagnosis and data analysis. Dr. Susan Aquino of the Research Directorate tackled community profiling, while Director for Planning, Dr. Sherlyn Nicolas, guided the participants on report preparation and translating data into actionable program designs.

Applying these concepts, the participants worked in clusters to analyze real data sets for characterization and needs identification.

During the closing program, Dr. Aquino challenged the trainees to strive for continuous improvement and urged them to begin drafting their project proposals. The second batch of trainees is expected to proceed to Phase 2 of the 

program, which will focus on Process Documentation.

“We will join you as you go along in the process, and we will learn together and make something that we will be proud of,” said Dr. Aquino.