School wants agriculture students to be tech savvy

School wants agriculture students to be tech savvy

BRUNEI-MUARA

Tuesday, July 3, 2007

THE Wasan Vocational School received its second intake with a renewed pledge to churn out vocational graduates "capable of handling the latest technologies in agriculture", despite lacking qualified teachers.

The Kampung Wasan institution, which is in its second year of operation, is pushing onward with the introduction of a new course as it welcomed 60 new students into their post-secondary programmes.

Deputy Permanent Secretary (Corporate Services) of Education Hjh Norjum Hj Mohd Yusop told the students that they "should feel fortunate and proud to be chosen for the offered programmes", as many other students under the Secondary Vocational Programme (PMV) did not have the chance to further their education at technical and vocational institutions due to limited vacancies. PMV is offered as an alternative course to upper secondary education, for students who wish to enter the vocational and technical stream.

She went on to explain that the local agriculture industry held much potential for development, and thus expressed the Ministry of Education's hopes that the school concerned "would establish strategic partnerships to identify promising fields in agriculture to be integrated as quality programmes."

Wasan Vocational School's principal, Hj Mohd Zamri Hj Sabli, stated that his institution's main challenge was "a lack of qualified educators", but that the Ministry of Education was working to resolve the issue. He also said that there were plans to broaden the school's current levels to include National Diploma courses in "relevant and needed" fields.

The new students, who hail from all four districts, embarked on their first day of a five-day orientation week yesterday. They are enrolled in the school's National Trade Certificate Grade 3 (NTC3) Programmes, namely Crop Production, Fish Husbandry and the recently-added Basic Food Processing. The first intake totalled 40 students, who were evenly distributed between Crop Production and Fish Husbandry.

Each programme entails a year of study and three to six months in an industrial placement.

"I believe that the advancement of technology will force us to keep up to date with our knowledge, especially in the fields of high-tech agriculture, such as gene manipulation, genetic transfer and biotechnology," said Hj Mohd Zamri.

He also said that local perceptions of agriculture needed to change.

"If we still consider (agriculture) as just ploughing soil and working in scorching heat, then I believe we will not progress or achieve self-sustenance in agriculture," he added.

The principal concluded by articulating on his ambition of making the school a "focal point" for producing skilled graduates capable familiar with the latest technologies, towards the goal of raising local agricultural production.

For the rest of orientation week, the new intake will be participating in activities led by various government and private agencies such as the Counselling and Career Section from the Ministry of Education, the Da'wah Islamiah Centre, the Ministry of Religious Affairs, and local bank Taib.

First intake student Salfatinah bte Md Salleh, 18, who reads Fish Husbandry at the institution, expressed her support of the idea. "If given the opportunity from the school, I wish to continue and achieve a National Diploma," she added.

An administrator admitted that most of the students had trouble with staying outdoors and being under the sun for long periods of time but gradually they got used to it and became more and more interested in the courses that they were offered.

The Brunei Times