Abstract
Higher education institutions fulfill threefold functions: instruction, research, and extension. The third function which is community extension used to play a supporting role and performed within the context of accreditation. Ideally, it must be integrated into the academic fabric of the institution. This study aimed to assess the impact of Children’s Education Welfare Assistance (CEWA) programs, a community extension program of a higher education institution in the Philippines that operated for 15 years, on the human security of the beneficiaries, specifically on their economic, food, health, environmental, personal, community, and political security. CEWA simultaneously implemented three sub-programs, namely: Child Development, Family Development, and Institution Building. A multilevel mixed method was used in collecting data on three levels: Sponsored Children, Sponsored Family, and the Program Implementer. Documents, Survey Questionnaire, FGD, and KII were utilized in gathering the data. A researcher-made questionnaire was deployed after subjecting it to content expert validation, pilot, and reliability testing. Respondents were selected using a purposive sampling technique. Data were analyzed using document analysis, paired-samples t-test, and direct content analysis.
Results showed that Child Development and Family Development were effective in alleviating the human security of the beneficiaries. Institution Building, on the other hand, failed in meeting its program objectives. Overall, the programs of CEWA had a huge impact on the economic, food, health, environmental, community, personal, and political security of the beneficiaries. Community extension programs that are long-term and holistic in approach can be an effective agent of societal transformation.
Author Information
Blenn Nimer, Notre Dame of Kidapawan College, Philippines
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