Gadsby-Dolly: Government wants to help children grow through gardens

In spite of the challenges children face and the many acts of violence in which they are participants, Minister of Education Dr Nyan Gadsby-Dolly has said all is not lost.

She said her ministry is seeking to create the ideal disciplined, productive and tolerant citizen to drive forward the development trajectory of the country.

At the Agricultural Initiative Competition for Primary Schools, themed I Learn, I Grow, I Eat, at Nutrien Trinidad Model Farm, Couva, on Monday, Gadsby-Dolly said part of the strategy relates to incorporating agriculture into education.

Nutrien was the sole sponsor of this project, which saw 55 primary schools competing and winning trophies and certificates. Nutrien’s MD Erik Vettergren presented Gadsby-Dolly with a $50,000 cheque.

The Perseverance Project was awarded to the Lady Hochoy Centres of TT and Lady Hochoy School Penal for overcoming challenges.

The prize won by Aripo RC Primary for Best Kitchen Garden was dedicated to the late Micheal Baptiste, the teacher who co-ordinated the school’s efforts.

Vettergren said the company was happy to partner with the MOE, as: “Today’s youths are tomorrow’s decision-makers and agriculture advocates. They play a crucial role in a healthy future for our industry and our planet.

“I feel confident that the participants of this contest and their hard would will contribute to feeding the future.”

Director of curriculum planning and development division at the ministry Anna Singh said the competition, which started in March, demonstrated the ways the school garden could be used as a basis for cross-curricular integration of other subject areas.

“We saw many schools integrate numeracy concepts, literacy concepts and even visual and performing arts all under the umbrella of garden-based learning.

“Not only did the competition augur well for the requirements of the national primary school curriculum, but it also provided a strong foundation for the new cultural transformation policy our ministry is currently implementing in all schools.”

Gadsby-Dolly praised the dedication of principals and staff who prepared the children for the competition and created diverse kitchen gardens in their schools that encompassed all subject areas, including agricultural science.

She underscored that there is more to education than certification, while espousing the ideals of developing the model citizen and ensuring they understand their role in this development.

On becoming an independent nation, she said the pledge was made to create professionals and not depend on people from developed countries to run TT.

“The education sector is where we come in to create them.”

On the critical issue of food security, she stressed the importance of young people accepting agriculture as a viable career choice and as a way of living.

“So you would understand, then, why, as part of our cultural transformation policy, which we are enacting from this academic year, stretching into the next academic year, why we are saying to all of our schools, you must have, as a mandatory part of your school, a kitchen garden.

“If we are considering food security, and if you want our young people to consider careers in agriculture and, if you want them to grow their food and you want them to eat more healthily to bring down the non-communicable diseases and to reduce our health care bill, then we have to give them the opportunity to grow their food, to understand what that means, to get some exposure and to hook their minds in the right direction.”

Just as soil has to be fertilised, ploughed and mulched to get the desired product, Gadsby-Dolly said the children’s minds must be seen as fertile ground, “to make inputs, to bear the fruits we want.

“The fruit of discipline, the fruit of tolerance, the fruit of production, because we want a better TT.

“It is not going to come by us simply wanting it, it is going to come by working hard to achieve the country we want.

“That is why we are doing this, and the competition is a sweetener, because if you grow your own food and have your beautiful garden, then there is an opportunity for you to now show off to the rest of the country what you have.”