For Guyana to move forward, the younger generation has to assume the role of drivers in order to continue on a path to development. Those were the sentiments echoed by Agriculture Minister Robert Persaud to the 124 graduates of the Guyana School of Agriculture on Thursday, July 28.
A section of the graduates at the ceremony on Thursday
The graduates were drawn from Essequibo and other areas, and pursued studies in animal health and veterinary public health, agriculture, forestry, and fisheries. Seven students scored distinctions, while 22 graduated with higher credit.
Fifty-one students graduated with the diploma in agriculture, 18 with a certificate in agriculture, nine with a diploma in animal health and veterinary public health, 39 with certificates in forestry, and eight with certificates in fisheries studies.
Shazir Rangasammy of the Mon Repos campus was awarded for being the student with the highest average in the two- year programmes offered by the school. Ishvar Kawal of the Essequibo campus was similarly awarded.
In addressing the graduates, Persaud said they have to embrace “Project Guyana” as it is a work in progress, not for the parents of graduates, but for the graduates and fellow young people. He added that, with a changing world, skilled young people are the hope for the future. While pointing out that Guyana is a work in progress, the minister specifically singled out the expanding agriculture landscape that is fast growing in Guyana.
However, the coastland seems to be the most involved, but this will soon change; and he said that when hinterland students are given the same opportunities, then the entire sector will be deemed inclusive. “We have a significant part of Guyana unrepresented here, but there will come a time when we will have to move onto the next frontier in agriculture.” And that frontier is having the hinterland region integrally involved in agriculture.
The minister said this feat can be achieved when students are attracted to the Guyana School of Agriculture and then repatriated to serve their region. He urged the board of the GSA to devise “aggressive policies to attract students” from the hinterland region.
Persaud said that, by 2012, the ministry will have a programme to introduce distance learning via the Internet for students in the hinterland region.
This initiative will work though the President’s One Laptop Per Family Initiative.
“…and we will be able to bridge that gap between the hinterland and the coast.” The minister went on to say these plans show that government is committed to transforming the village economies of the hinterland region into prosperous and thriving self-sufficient units. Sugar cultivation is set to increase by at least 50,000 hectares, he said, with an additional 20,000 hectares of land being made available for the cultivation of other non-traditional crops.
The hinterland region, he said, holds untapped potential for huge commercial cultivation, mainly because it possesses a rich soil type to produce vegetables such as onions, garlic, potatoes and other foods that are commonly imported, Persaud said.
Persaud, who has been holding the post of agriculture minister since 2006, and who has been the figure behind the agriculture diversification programme and the Grow More food campaign, said agriculture is the main industry in the world, aside from oil, and agriculturalists will always be in high demand. He told the graduates that they were in the “right business,” as the profession is very rewarding.
He also urged them to get other young people involved in agriculture.
Captain Gerry Gouveia, Chairman of the Roraima Group of Companies, gave the motivational speech to the graduates. He said that agriculture has moved into a new paradigm, and skills need to be upgraded to suit the changing sector. He said he feels the Faculty of Agriculture at the University of Guyana should be moved to the GSA, since the GSA students were learning more practical skills and that institution was a prime example of how a semi-autonomous body should operate.
His main advice to the graduates was to cultivate a positive attitude, and marry the right person, to ensure success.
He spoke of his life as a young man serving in the Guyana Defence Force, and Gouveia urged them to “stay and work in Guyana, and do it with honour and pride.” Entrepreneurship was also another area Gouveia encouraged.
For the year 2011 to date, the total expenditure of the GSA has been Gy$244 million, with government providing a subvention of Gy$150 million and the school generating Gy$93 million. The campuses are at Essequibo and at Mon Repos, but serve Regions Two Three, Four, Five, and Six.
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