TO develop and strengthen agricultural education in the Philippines, a leader of the House of Representatives is pushing for the passage of a measure promoting “agri-preneurs” in the country.
According to Deputy Speaker Sharon S. Garin of Aambis-OWA party-list, House Bill (HB) 3354, or the proposed Entrepreneurial Agricultural Education Act, seeks to address the need for agricultural entrepreneurship training programs. The measure is pending with the House Committee on Agriculture and Food since August 31, 2016.
Garin said the Agricultural Manpower Education and Entrepreneurship System (AMEES) should be established to boost food production.
“For instance, the Family Farm Schools known Rural Development Schools have been established in various parts of the country since 1988 based on the original French model Maison Familiale Rurale. Such schools provide boys and girls with vital actual experience in agricultural operations and farm management during their formative high school years,” she said.
“As a proof of the effectiveness of the system, about 2,000 schools around the world have copied the French model. The experience has been the same—farms operate as business enterprises with significant results in profits for farming families and increase in food production,” Garin added.
She said the passage of the bill is “timely” as the world tries to give significance to farming as a way to eradicate hunger and poverty, provide food security and nutrition, improve livelihoods, manage natural resources effectively, protect the environment and achieve sustainable development.
HB 3354 aims to encourage the application of manpower development for agricultural entrepreneurship in agricultural, technical, and vocational education and training, starting at the post-secondary level.
“The younger generation is veering away from agri-related courses because agriculture is often equated with poverty and underprivileged status. That should not be the case. It is time we equate agriculture with opportunity and prosperity. Not only will this bill promote agriculture as a viable and versatile career option, but it will also create breeding grounds for the agri-preneurs we need,” Garin said.
In a 2013 study conducted among children of rice farmers aged 13 to 21, 39 percent of the respondents had unfavorable perceptions of agriculture and saw farming as anti-beauty, a difficult task to perform and a not-so-glamorous venture.
One of the objectives of the bill is to change this misguided perception and encourage more students, particularly those in rural areas, to pursue career paths in agriculture.
Upon the enactment of the bill, each administrative region shall establish an AMEES Development School or Farm Business School. A ladderized system of agricultural entrepreneurship education in the post-secondary level shall be established in both public and private educational institutions or training centers, following the completion of the Rural Farm School curriculum as provided in Republic Act 10618, or the Rural Farm School Act of 2013.