BARCOMA, Lourdes Angeline N.

AM 1

The National Service Training Program (NSTP) Act of 2001 (R.A. 9163) was enacted in
response to public clamor for reforms in the Reserved Officers Training Corps (ROTC) Program.
This act affirms that the prime duty of the government shall be to serve and protect its citizens.
In turn, it shall be the responsibility of all its citizens to defend the security of the State; thus, the
government may require each citizen to render personal, military or civil service. In the pursuit
of these goals, the youth shall be motivated, trained, organized, and mobilized in military
training, literacy, civic welfare, and other similar endeavors in service to the nation. The NSTP is
a program aimed at enhancing civic consciousness and defense preparedness in the youth by
developing the ethics of service and patriotism while undergoing training in any of its program
components. Its various components are specially designed to enhance the youth’s active
contribution to the general welfare of the nation. All male and female students enrolled in any
baccalaureate or in at least two (2)-year technical/vocational or associate courses are required to
complete the equivalent of two (2) semesters of an NSTP Common Module for the period of at
least 25-hours and any one of the NSTP components (Reserve Officers’ Training Corps (ROTC;
Literacy Training Service and; Civic Welfare Training Service).

The primary objective of the NSTP law (R.A. 9163) is to promote the role of the youth in
nation-building. It aims to encourage the youth to become civic and/or military leaders and
volunteers whom could be called upon by the nation in case their services are needed. The
National Service Reserve Force was created to enlist CWTS and LTS graduates which is also
equivalent to Citizen Armed Force of the ROTC. In the event that the state will need people for
its civic and literacy activities, it will merely utilize the personnel of the reserve force, and the
student volunteers the NSTP-CWTS and the NSTP-LTS has produced. As with the need of the
Armed Forces for additional force for its defense campaigns, it can easily use its body of
reservists in the Reserve Command. Literacy Training Service (LTS) aims to develop the
capabilities of students as potential literacy workers and conscientious advocates of literacy in
the country. The 6-unit credit in LTS is divided into two courses.

NSTP 1 (LTS) is a 3-unit course (54 hours) allotted for classroom training on facilitation,
group dynamics, training designs, etc. NSTP 2 (LTS) is the other 3-unit course (54 hours)
allotted for fieldwork. The aforementioned means that in NSTP-LTS 1, it is more on lecture
while in nstp-cwts 2, it is more on application of what you learned on nstp 1. During NSTP-LTS
2, the students who are enrolled on this will make a project proposal to be implemented during
nstp2. Indeed, it is very important to have first a proper discussion on the basic concepts of
NSTP-LTS on the first quarter. Discussion is important to learning in all disciplines because it
helps students to process information rather than simply receive it. The goal of a discussion is to
get students to practice thinking about the course material.

Since NSTP 2 classes are mainly concerned with community engagement with the help
of partner communities and organizations. CWTS and LTS students are required to conduct civic
welfare and literacy activities or projects as part of the required 40-64 hours of community
engagement. This will be a bit challenging because there are many things need to be consider
when it come in making an activity or a project proposal that would be beneficial to the
community. In making a proposal, student should have first an assessment stage. Assessment s a
process of getting data from the community (barangay) regarding what they need in terms of
different criteria such as the basic human needs of food, clothing, shelter, access to health
service, security, education, and livelihood.

Needs assessment is very important because it t gives a clear picture to the group of the
situation/place where their civic welfare service will be conducted. Second, the group involved
in civic welfare service must not assume what the barangay needs. Third, the people of the
barangay are the only ones who know what they need. Lastly, if projects done for the barangay
are based on needs assessment, then there is a better chance for the CWTS or LTS project to
succeed. Therefore, project planning must be something the students look forward to. In project
planning stage, it is very important to consider that projects are made to bring social change
whether it is in little or big ways. It is important also to have a guide in choosing solutions to the
problems. Moreover, the best solutions are the SMART solutions. In project planning, plans
must be: S–Specific; M–Measurable; A–Attainable; R–Realistic and; T–Time-bound.