In a bid to meet the demands of a changing agricultural sector, the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Mining will be rolling out more scholarships for agricultural students this year across several key areas.
Jamaica Agriculture Minister Floyd Green made the disclosure while speaking at the College of Agriculture, Science and Education (CASE) during day one of their Founders’ Weekend on Friday, Jan. 26, according to Jamaica Information Services (JIS).
Green said he has given a directive for his team to analyze “where we are seeing tremendous gaps in our educational system in relation to our programs that we are building out, what talent pool do we need in the next two, three or five years and to draft some scholarships around that.” “So, you will see later this year that we will outline a whole raft of new scholarships to fill some of those gaps that we have picked up in relation to the training needed to move agriculture forward,” he stated.
Furthermore, Green said the ministry has recognized the critical role it plays in helping students to acquire the practical knowledge and experience in their relevant field of study.
“As such, we look at different modalities including internships at the ministry for our students here at CASE where you’re exposed to areas and activities such as our extension services, inspection and field visits,” he explained.
Green added that this initiative is also being expanded, and that the ministry will be doing more to offer assistance for students to study in the areas that it deems important.