The Agriculture Science programme that is offered to the students of the Canje Secondary School is set to be improved through an inter-ministerial collaboration between the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Agriculture. The Ministry of Finance will also be playing an important role by providing guidance.
The first step towards this goal began today in the form of a working meeting and an initial visit by Minister of Education, Dr. the Hon. Nicolette Henry; Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Agriculture, Ms Delma Nedd; and technical officers from both ministries.
Minister Henry said that she had visited the school before and recognised that, with support, a lot more can be done. She said that there is funding that can be used to support such programmes in schools and it was decided that schools that have farms that can be expanded would be supported, starting with Canje Secondary School.
“I trust that this can be a productive and fruitful exercise and that it can certainly excite the students and teachers. I know they are already excited based on what I have seen,” Minister Henry remarked.
According to Permanent Secretary, Ms Delma Nedd, the project is one that can benefit both ministries. She said that under the Rural Agricultural Infrastructural Development (RAID) Project, her Ministry aims to have projects done by communities.
However, she said that in the project there is provision for model farms. She said that the first model farm is located at President’s College. She said the idea is to have model farms in some schools so that students from other schools can visit and see how that can be replicated.
She said that the visit to the school was to have a look at what currently obtains and figure out ways in which her Ministry can add value in terms of Agriculture.
Ms Nedd noted that the aim is to develop a more detailed farm school using external resources, tool kits, and accessories. She said, “We want to make Canje Secondary School a central agriculture basis for schools in this region to see how you can upscale agriculture particularly in a modernized way.”
Meanwhile, Head of the Agriculture Science Department of the school, Mr Thelson Williams, said that he is happy that the school has been chosen to benefit from the partnership and support.
He said his school is willing and committed to the agriculture programme. He presented his proposal to those in attendance which included the projects the school wishes to undertake and the estimated cost.
(Ministry of Education press release)
