Lagos State Government (LASG) will on Monday, August 17 begin the Year 2020 Agricultural Youth Empowerment Scheme (Agric-YES) Summer School Programme for students of public Senior Secondary Schools across the Six Education Districts in the State.
The State Acting Commissioner for Agriculture, Ms. Abisola Olusanya who disclosed this in Lagos today noted that the two-week programme which was first implemented in 2011 is aimed at encouraging senior secondary students to embrace agriculture as a life-long career after their secondary education would end on Saturday, August 29, 2020.
“The Agric – YES Summer School Programme was first implemented in 2011 to further stimulate the interest and awareness in Agriculture amongst students in public Senior Secondary Schools across the Six Education Districts in Lagos State.
“The Agric–YES Summer School Programme aims to serve as a ‘taster’ programme for students who may wish to pick up a career in agricultural value chain in future and eventually fill the vacuum being created by the ageing farmers,” Olusanya asserted.
According to her, the annual Agric-YES Summer School Programme which usually holds during the long vacation is meant for SSII students who take Agricultural Science as well as their Agricultural Science teachers drawn from the six Education Districts across the State.
She explained that the Agric–YES Summer School Programme would enable students to understand that agriculture, when well-managed, is a reputable and profitable business venture adding that participating students, Education Officials and Teachers have been grouped into sizeable batches per class in accordance with the State Government’s guideline on social gatherings during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Acting Commissioner pointed out that the Summer School Programme would be held at the Lagos State Agricultural Development Authority, Oko-Oba, Agege replacing the usual 2-week on- farm training at the Agricultural Training Institute, Araga, Epe.
“Due to the Corona virus (COVID–19) pandemic and the need to discourage close physical interaction among students, teachers and other important stakeholders, this year’s Agric–YES Summer School Programme is taking place at the Lagos State Agricultural Development Authority, Oko-Oba, Agege. This arrangement shall replace the usual two-week residential on–farm Summer School Training within the Agric –YES premises in Araga, Epe,” she averred.
The Acting Commissioner disclosed that the Programme would not only stir up interest for Agriculture as a career in students, it would also serve as a refresher course for Agricultural Science teachers in the State.
She revealed that participants would be exposed to theoretical and practical areas usually covered by various invited facilitators and resource personnel in poultry production, fisheries, vegetable and crop production, agribusiness as well as climate change among others.
“This Programme aims to ensure that students excel in their Senior Secondary School examinations in Agriculture and eventually grow into a more productive labour force as adults thereby solving, to a reasonable extent, the problem of unemployment and mitigating the possible effect of global food crisis,” Olusanya said.
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