Government reintroduces agriculture in schools – Pilot school programme launched at St. Stanislaus

Georgetown, GINA, October 2, 2008

Government has embarked on a programme aimed at reintroducing agriculture in schools as it seeks to gear the student population into exciting careers and at the same time boost production at the level of schools. Today, Minister of Agriculture Robert Persaud launched the first Pilot School Project at St. Stanislaus College, Brickdam under the theme “Stimulating Agriculture Production in Secondary Schools in Guyana”.

St. Stanislaus College was chosen as a model school for this project since it has a vibrant farming facility in Sophia.

The Ministries of Agriculture and Education, the Pesticides and Toxic Chemicals Board, teachers and students will be involved in this project comprising 200 schools across the country. Participating students would also be educated about the use and control of pesticides and toxic chemicals.

According to Minister Persaud “the farming population is becoming an aged one” and these programmes are necessary and important to the country’s future. He stated that when the “Grow More” campaign was launched students were taken into consideration because they would be the ones sustaining and moving the government’s initiatives forward.

Minister Persaud remarked that the global food crisis is as a result of countries not paying attention to agriculture and using prime farm lands for factory sites. This he attributed to the “unequal distribution of wealth”.

Minister Persaud noted that there were some 900 million people globally who are deprived of balanced and nutritional meals. On the other hand, Guyana has chosen to increase its agricultural capacity.

This, he said, was in stark comparison to some Caribbean countries.

Agriculture, he said, would expose students to business management skills, mechanical engineering, hydraulic engineering and generic engineering. He stated that in some areas of agriculture there is mechanization from the tilling to harvesting. He encouraged them to be future technicians, leaders and farmers.

Minister within the Ministry of Education, Dr. Desrey Fox, who was present at the launching, highlighted the importance of agriculture at school. She stated that old traditions such as farming are often taken for granted. She lauded the reintroduction of agriculture into schools.

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