The Gy$ 1.7 million GRECO Skills Training Centre greenhouse project, funded by the Canadian High Commission is fully functional, and students are hoping that the project could develop to the extent that it could benefit the entire Victoria, East Coast Demerara, community.
The project was conceptualised when the GRECO Centre decided to undertake sustainability as a source of agricultural development. The greenhouse officially opened late in March, and has benefitted the community since.
Students from the GRECO Centre admire the yield of the greenhouse
The centre has taken full responsibility for the greenhouse and the growing of peppers, tomatoes and a wide variety of herbs to name just a few. The managing of the greenhouse is made possible by the dedication of students and teachers who visit to reap when crops are ready.
The centre’s principal, Desmond Saul pointed out that the greenhouse sells the wide variety of greens that are produced. “Students will grow, reap and sell their product,” he noted.
The Victoria community will be given an opportunity to purchase and use locally grown goods, which allows for students of the school to learn about local commerce and participate.
The centre is known for its unique curriculum and for the ability of the teachers to instruct students using kinesthetic teaching styles. Saul noted this was because all of the volunteer teachers have experience in the fields they teach.
“Teachers have great knowledge in the areas; this makes the learning process hands on,” Saul said. He was proud of students’ accomplishments and told Guyana Times International, “the greenhouse made it easier for them, but it also made it functional they could see results and kept going”.
“It’s all hydroponics; they don’t have to manually work the land. That sometimes made students unwilling to keep trying,” Saul stated. He continued that with the hydroponic greenhouse, students see results much quicker. The small plot of land where students used to grow crops now sits adjacent to the flourishing greenhouse, Saul stated, noting that an expansion is possible and with continued support can be feasible.
The centre’s director was proud that students undertook workloads that were very different from the workloads in the normal academic stream. “This is what we want for them, they had difficulties in schools before and now with this centre, they can really work hard and gain life skills.”
Michael Spencer, one of the centre’s volunteer teachers, noted that the project was important because “agriculture is an integral part of feeding the nation”. Spencer was encouraged that students identified with the necessity of sustainable development.
Sean Peters and Julian Pollard, both students at the centre, said that they have learned practical skills that can be applied to their daily lives. “I feel like I can maybe do something like this at home, smaller, but like this,” Peters told this publication.
He stated that the greenhouse has given him a lesson in responsibility and that the work had just begun as the “starting up was hard, but we have more to do, that’s going to be harder”.
Pollard said he was originally attracted to the welding programme at the school, but now he sees the value in agriculture development. “A greenhouse is easier than planting a garden and it gives more food,” he contended, noting “we can sell at the market, make money and use it for the greenhouse”.
Canadian High Commissioner David Devine stated that the project aims to equip students with both practical and theoretical knowledge of agriculture. “Hopefully this facility can be used by the community, this is a way for students to earn practical skills which can be expanded upon,” Devine said when the greenhouse was commissioned.
The Canadian high commissioner said the project “impact daily lives as well as encourages skills and a learning process that will increase employability in the future for students”. The vocational school was granted over Gy$ 2 million by the Canadian government to realise the project.
The GRECO Centre’s greenhouse is one project that the vocational school is committed to developing. The centre accepts students with a variety of learning disabilities and provides a range of courses from mechanics, to the greenhouse project. Students are able to learn practical skills while pursuing academic studies.
