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Black Immigrant Daily News
The Ministry of Education, Technological and Vocational Training is pushing for every student across Barbados to learn about agriculture.
Education Minister Kay McConney informed the media on Monday that chief education officer Dr Ramona Archer-Bradshaw has been encouraging principals across nursery, primary and secondary institutions to start agricultural programmes.
…agriculture has to be a part of how we learn
“Our chief [education officer] has been encouraging all principals to ensure that the [Schools] Agriculture Programme is implemented in every school from nursery to primary to secondary because agriculture has to be a part of how we learn.”
“Our children have to learn that food does not come from supermarkets, that vegetables do not come from supermarkets. as we get them growing them we expect that they will have a greater respect for them and the nutritional value,” said the Minister after a tour of the Lawrence T Gay Memorial School.
She shared that ahead of the introduction of the national school nutrition policy, discussions have taken place on how to get students to eat healthier and have a holistic understanding of food and nutrition.
“We were just discussing programmes to ensure that our students are eating healthier in accordance with our new national nutritional policy for schools and ensure they are fully engaged in the business of growing their own food for a bigger understanding,” she added.
Chief Education Officer Dr Ramona Archer-Bradshaw noted that education officials were trying to get “children happy to eat healthier meals”. She disclosed that training sessions have occurred with vendors and canteen operators about the sale of healthier food options.
“We worked in collaboration with the Ministry of Health and Wellness, the National Nutrition Centre and we exposed [vendors and canteen concessionaires] to various menus and various healthy snacks they can sell at the school – it is an ongoing process.
“We have a committee comprising representatives from the Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Education and they are working actively to further sensitise the canteen concessionaires, the vendors, the teachers, the members of staff and the students so we can get the turnaround that is needed in terms of the children’s taste. We want healthy children because healthy children learn better,” Dr Archer-Bradshaw added.
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