Canada presents buses to 5 agric colleges

The Canadian government, through its Technical Education Development for Modernised Agriculture in Ghana (TEDMAG) project, has provided five Toyota Coaster buses to support five agricultural colleges in the country.

The beneficiary schools are the Animal Health and Production College, Ejura Agricultural College, Kwadaso Agricultural College, Damongo Agricultural College and Ohawu Agricultural College.

TEDMAG is a five-year project being implemented by the University of Saskatchewan in Canada.

The project is funded by the Global Affairs Canada under the Modernising Agriculture in Ghana Programme (MAG).

As part of the presentation in Accra yesterday, the institutions also received personal protective equipment (PPE) to ensure maximum protection against COVID-19.

Canada support

The Deputy Director of Operations at the Canadian High Commission, Ms Stephanie Brute, indicated that the agricultural colleges in the country played an important role in modernising and improving agricultural productivity.

She said it was against that background that Canada was providing the vehicles to the institutions to enable them to meet their transportation needs on their field learning visits.

She said the buses would also allow for practical assignments outside campuses to help re-orient agricultural education and training towards an agri-business market-oriented system.

“We have come a long way together since Canada first invested in food security and decentralisation in Ghana. Each milestone moves us closer to our shared goals and we will continue to progress towards poverty eradication, zero hunger, gender equality and growth that works for everyone,” Ms Brute stated.

Ms Brute noted that the COVID-19 pandemic had affected educational systems worldwide and, therefore, it had become necessary for learning institutions to implement measures to protect staff and students.

She said it was due to such challenges that Canada was providing the PPE to enable the colleges to protect both students and staff against the pandemic.

Commendation

The Chief Director at the Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MoFA), Mr Robert Patrick Ankobeah, commended the government of Canada for its support to the country, particularly in the area of agriculture.

He said the buses would help the colleges deliver on their mandate and improve students’ performance.

“The buses will help them visit new places and other sites where they can acquire new knowledge and be versatile in their line of operations. We are not training students to be just producers of food, but rather that they become competitive in the international market,” he stated.

He also urged the schools to adopt a good maintenance culture to ensure that the buses were able to serve their intended purpose.