Government urged to address waning interest in agri, fisheries courses

Sen. Ramon Magsaysay Jr. said the government must focus on boosting growth, opening up business opportunities and creating more jobs in the agriculture and fisheries sectors to rekindle Filipino students’ interest in pursuing agriculture- and fisheries-related courses.

Magsaysay issued this statement as he expressed concern over the alarming report of the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) on the Filipino students’ diminishing interest in the study of agriculture and fisheries courses despite the Philippines being an agricultural country.

CHED said the waning interest in the two courses is evident in the sharp decline of enrollees from SY 2002 to 2005, which dropped by almost 50 percent. CHED reported that at least 84,609 students have enrolled in various institutions offering said courses all over the country for SY 2002-2003. Enrollment plummeted to 78,201 for SY 2003-2004 and further went down to 70,680 for SY 2004-2005.

Magsaysay, who chairs the Senate committee on agriculture and concurrently the Congressional Oversight Committee on Agricultural and Fisheries Modernization (COCAFM), also noted CHED’s statement saying that low employment rate for agriculture degree holders deter Filipino students from enrolling in these two programs.

Magsaysay urged the government to address the declining enrollment in the agriculture and fisheries courses by working hard to generate more jobs in the agriculture and fisheries sectors and provide more scholarship programs and incentives to students willing to pursue agriculture- and fisheries-related courses.

Reacting on CHED’s statement that it might also stop giving board examinations for agriculture and fisheries since these have bearing on the students’ declining interest in agriculture course, Magsaysay said that the Agriculture and Fisheries Modernization Act (AFMA) has a provision which requires agriculture and fisheries graduates to take licensure examination, therefore, CHED could not just stop it without amending the AFMA.

Magsaysay said that those who have not passed the licensure examination should not be discouraged because they could also be given eligibility.

"Under the AFMA, those who have not passed the Civil Service Examination for fisheries and agriculture but have served the industry in either private or public capability for not less than five years shall be automatically gained eligibility by the Board of Examiners," Magsaysay said.

"The COCAFM, in coordination with the National Food and Agriculture Council and other government institutions, has also initiated the Young Farmers Program (YFP) which encourages young graduates of agriculture, even those who have not taken or passed the board licensure examination, to engage in agribusiness," the senator said.

"With this program, we can expect that more small and medium enterprises will be established and more jobs would be generated especially in the countryside. This could also minimize the migration of rural workers to the metropolis and foreign lands," Magsaysay said.

The senator explained that under the YFP, the government is committed to help participating farmer-entrepreneurs to secure loan representing 60 percent of the total capital needed for their proposed agribusiness project. The 25 percent of their needed capital would be provided as grant by the program, while the remaining 15 percent has to be raised by the proponent as equity.

Interested parties may contact Virgie Agcopra or Larry Villanueva at tel. no. 5526601 local 5512 and 5501, or Corie Villarino at tel. nos. 9262241 and 9204092.