Five primary schools pioneer agric training programme

By Edith Igbokwe

Five schools – Oshodi Local Government Primary School; Central Primary School, Oshodi; Community Primary School, Ewutuntun; Olokun Primary School, Ilasa and Local Government Primary School, Isolo – have been picked by the Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC) to pioneer the Agricultural Education Training Programme (AETP) by practicing crop enterprise in their school premises.

Designed to revive farming among the youths, the commission plans to fund the programme nationwide to teach pupils the processes of preparing the land to harvesting and sale in the market.

To kick start the project, the State Universal Basic Education Board (SUBEB) is to supervise the process, from land preparation to planting, watering, monitoring, up to harvesting and selling part of the farm produce to show the pupils the benefits of farming.

Oshodi Local Government Education Authority (LGEA) Agriculture Officer, Mrs. Obiageli Lawal said she has started educating the schools involved on how to achieve results.

She advised each school to have an Agriculture Officer and form Agriculture club to enable teachers and pupils have daily record of farm events.

She also reminded the teachers to take the task seriously as there are plans to organise a competition to showcase the farm produce of each school at the end of the harvest season.

“We have Agric as a subject but we don’t practice, now we want the pupils to get the farming orientation, for see how cultivation is done and to get involved in the practices of planting from the land preparation till harvest and selling point of the farm produce and to see how profit is realised from practicing agriculture.”