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124 graduate from School of Agriculture
124 graduated from the Guyana School of Agriculture yesterday
Shazir Rangasammy, who secured the only distinction for the Diploma in Agriculture course at the Guyana School of Agriculture (GSA) 2009- 2011, yesterday was recognised as the best graduating student.
While Rangasammy received the Chief Executive Officer’s award, his colleague, Ishvar Kawal, was awarded the Chairman’s award for being the best average student at the GSA Essequibo campus.
This year, the GSA produced 124 students (said to be the largest batch to graduate) qualified in various fields of agriculture including animal health and veterinary public health; forestry and fisheries. The graduation was held at GSA’s Mon Repos facility.
Delivering the charge, Captain Gerald Gouveia, Chief Executive Officer, Roraima Group of Companies, emphasized the importance of agriculture in the global environment. He stressed the need for increased agricultural production in the Caribbean, and posited that agriculture needs to become a mega-business to reduce the cost in relation to the tourism industry.
It was noted that everyone has to understand the role of entrepreneurship as it entails taking risk, bravery, moving to another project if one is unsuccessful, and start small to grow big.
Though not directly mentioning the country’s brain drain situation, Gouveia encouraged the students to remain in Guyana and help build the country. He stressed that students must be grateful to the taxpayers who financed their studies.
He indicated that there are job opportunities in Guyana in terms of agriculture and that students must utilize their various skills to supply local industries. He alluded to the fact that local farmers need to expand their businesses to meet the needs of these industries.
When Demerara Distillers Limited (DDL) commenced producing Topco Juice, local raw materials were used in its production process since the product production has increased the company has to import raw materials, he stated.
Gouveia also noted that the University of Guyana should move its faculty of agriculture to GSA since resources should not be spent on two entities that serve almost the same purpose. He added that the GSA is a wonderful state-run institution.
According to Minister of Agriculture Robert Persaud, the graduation coincides with the agricultural transformation that is ongoing in Guyana. He stressed that there are many opportunities in the sector, particularly with its diversification.
He noted that the annual expenditure of the institution is close to $300M with approximately $1M being spent on each student.
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