Stakeholders Okay National School Programme

In line with the Federal
Government’s commitment to poverty  alleviation through  the creation of employment  for the youth in the agriculture sector, President Goodluck Jonathan recently inaugurated a national agricultural school programme geared toward exposing students to enable them take part in agric business.
A cross section of students who spoke to our correspondent  on the policy said, it was a welcome development .
According to Master Bomanini Prophet, a  Senior Secondary Three (SS3) student of County High School, Ahoada, the programme if well articulated would make the students show more interest in agriculture.
Prophet, who is the agriculture prefect of the school said if the programme manifests, some of  wasting land spaces in the various secondary schools in the state and country would be better utilised.
For Miss Lucy Chikere from Oromineke  Girls  Secondary School, Port Harcourt, “It is good because we want to  see how our agric teachers will put into practice what they teach us”.
According to her, it would also enhance students performances in agriculture examination especially in the practical  aspect of it.
However, for some  stakeholders, the federal  and states governments should partner with the private sector, NGOs and School owner by providing them with loans.
According to Chukwudi Worlu, a graduate of Business Management of the Federal College of Education (T)  Omoku, good agric Science  teachers should be engage to enable the students develop interest in the practical aspect of agriculture.
He explained that since agriculture was  one of the last prospects  for food security  and employment generation, there was  the need for young  people to participate in this kind of iniiative.
For Solo Odum, an English graduate of the  University of Port Harcourt, agric  has gone beyond the traditional  way of farming  Odum who is also a cocoa farmer explained that the use of crude implements by local farmers was no more in vogue and should be discouraged.
He said agric should  be properly mechanized  this present dispensation.
The pilot phase of the programme which is expected to take off soon, according to our correspondent, will involve about 4,400 students.
The Tide further gathered that the president  is  to meet with the students once in a year at an annual exhibition to evaluate  their level of success

Farm produce displayed during the World Food Day celebration in Port Harcourt, recently.