“Knowledge Without Application is Dead Knowledge”

Bataan School of Fisheries (BSF) is located along the coastal area of Orion, Bataan with a total land area of 14.8 hectares. School facilities include a 3-hectare brackish-water fishpond, a 2.8-hectare mangrove forest, and a 6-hectare reservation area along Manila Bay utilized as fishing laboratory.

Known as one of the best fishery schools in the country today, BSF is determined to continuously provide quality technical-vocational (tech-voc) education programs to its students by upgrading school facilities, which include laboratory workshops, and tools and equipment in Aquaculture and Food Processing. Students use these facilities as their training ground to acquire the needed competencies in the field of fishery education.

The school is also a venue for benchmarking and immersion, being one of the tech-voc schools which modelled the SHS program. Students, teachers, and practitioners from other fisheries schools visit BSF to undertake benchmarking and immersion activities in order to generate best practices, improved models, and learning experiences for possible adoption in their respective schools.

Acknowledging that fisheries courses are not as popular among students as other tech-voc specializations, BSF is trying to motivate SHS students to enroll in its fisheries courses. The school continuously upgrades its fisheries facilities, observing that fully-equipped workshops which meet the requirements of the modern fisheries sector for fish capture, aquaculture and processing draw the interest of students. There is a greater chance that more students will be attracted to take fisheries if laboratory facilities are well-equipped.

Apart from making fisheries courses more appealing, the school is primarily committed to ensuring that all students who enroll in Grade 11 and Grade 12 are able to acquire the necessary competencies for either work placement, entrepreneurship, or higher education after graduating from high school. This requires investing resources in the development of partnerships and linkages, not just with industries but also with agencies like the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources under the Department of Agriculture, and the local government unit.

“The assistance from partners is a big help in developing our Fisheries Technology students’ competencies in Aquaculture and acquiring hands-on experience in managing an aquaculture project,” Mr. Gerardo Batalla, Vocational School Administrator said. The facilities make the students more knowledgeable and more competent because they develop their skills through hands-on and practical activities, from the preparation of the fish ponds up to the harvesting stage of milkfish.

“The students in Fish/Food Processing course for example, are not only developing their competencies in Fish Products Packaging while acquiring practical experience in the usage of modern equipment; they are also developing entrepreneurship skills by marketing workshop products,” he added.

“I became interested in improving my skills in fisheries especially in food preservation,” said Heidi Roque, Grade 11 student of BSF.

Carrenza Paguirigan, also Grade 11 student said, “Keeping updated with the innovative facilities and equipment in the food preservation laboratory made me more confident to enter the world of work.”

“Knowledge without application is dead knowledge. The application of knowledge in fisheries through practical skills became more interesting and challenging,” also said Grade 11 student Crenz Al Lexer. (DepEd)