Students at the Iarowari Agro Technical Secondary School in the Central Province have been told to show interest in agriculture and livestock farming.
Livestock Development Corporation (LDC) Chief Executive Officer Terry Koim also urged students to choose livestock as a career because there are not many livestock technical officers in the country especially animal husbandry experts and veterinarians.
Speaking at the launch of the new logo for Iarowari Agro Technical Secondary School last week, Koim appealed to the students to consider livestock farming if they were unable to continue on to university or find a job. He also announced that LDC will provide job training and offer a scholarship to any student who wishes to train and become a veterinarian scientist.
LDC intends to offer students either as secondary school drop outs or university graduates a second chance to make a meaningful contribution to nation building through the livestock subsector.
Koim, representing the Prime Minister and Acting Minister for Agriculture, James Marape, and DAL Secretary, Daniel Kombuk, said LDC will work in partnership with the school to promote livestock farming activities and assist with technical and extension support to enable students to become familiar with livestock farming.
He reminded the students of the importance of agriculture and livestock as the backbone of the economy and the current emphasis by the Marape-led government to take back PNG through agriculture.
He congratulated the school board and management and Education Department for making the school to become an agro technical secondary institution, a move in the right direction as students will have the opportunity to learn more about agriculture and livestock programs during their studies.
The students must be passionate about developing the country’s huge potential in agriculture. He also challenged them to think commercial agriculture and start small but not be bogged down with just the traditional way of subsistence agriculture to make ends meet.
Koim said students must realise that they cannot all go to universities or find jobs, and must think seriously about choosing agriculture as a career, or utilize the livestock farming skills they learn at school to start up their own activities.
