Page 34 - FULL YEAR BOOK 2021

Lebanon

ONLINE DISCUSSION WITH LEBANESE YOUTH ON

THE TECHNICAL AGRICULTURAL EDUCATION

“Agriculture is currently the most im- and/or in short-term vocational training small cows’ farm. “I used to work in the
portant sector in the economy of Leba- courses. The project also integrates the hotel management sector but I shifted
non. You eat what you plant. I was Lucky methodology of efficiency and learning to working in agriculture as it is an im-
to specialize in Beekeeping and benefit in the labor market, as well as the mod- portant sector with many job opportuni-
from what I have learned from the tech- ernization and issuance of the necessary ties. I encourage and advise the youth
nical school” said Mohammad Nasral- decisions (especially those issued by in general, girls in particular to enroll in
lah, a graduate from the Technical Agri- the Minister of Agriculture), the estab- the schools” she added.
culture School in Khyam, South Lebanon. lishment of operational links for agricul- For Hussein Najem, a graduate from
tural schools with the private sector and
Mohamad, along with other stu- the Nabatieh agricultural technical
dents and graduates from the technical employers and the development of the school, agriculture is becoming more
schools took part in an online Facebook frameworks of the contracting system appealing to new generations which are
session on the 18th of December 2020, for learning in the labor market. Also, finding new ways of working in agricul-
in the presence of experts from FAO, the buildings of seven official agricul- ture that harness digital and technologi-
UNICEF, the Ministry of Agriculture, the tural technical schools in the Ministry of cal innovations.
embassy of Netherlands in Lebanon, and Agriculture are being rehabilitated and Nadine Khoury, Head of Qoot Cluster
the private sector. laboratories and field training fields are
being equipped in schools. also emphasized the important innova-
The session, moderated by Oussama tions in agriculture. “Youth are the future
“I wish I knew earlier of the technical
Ghoneim, an expert in technical edu- agricultural school,” said Nour Malaeb, of Lebanon. They are the ones who will
cation, was hosted by UNICEF Lebanon a students at Baakline’s technical agri- revolutionize the agriculture sector de-
in collaboration with FAO and the Min- cultural school. Thanks to the advice of spite all challenges, she said.
istry of Agriculture (MoA) funded by her teachers and their guidance, Nour “The agricultural sector is essential in
the Kingdom of Netherlands. It was at- started the Rizka project which aims at Lebanon. We noticed the efforts that the
tended by 88 people online who share providing agricultural services to peo- Lebanese youth are making to have bet-
some questions on the enrolment in the ple who cannot take care of their land. ter opportunities in agriculture, which
schools. encouraged the embassy of Netherlands
Amani Tarshishi, is also a graduate of
Part of the outreach campaign for the to support this sector and contribute to
FAO project “Upgrading the Technical the agricultural technical school in Nas- its development” said Vida Hamd, from
Agriculture Education System in Leb- riyit Rizk. Amani benefitted a lot from the embassy of Netherlands in Lebanon.
anon”, this session aims at shedding the courses and what she learned to win “We are keen on continuing this support
theory and practice. She is now work-
light on the importance of the technical ing in Mouneh production and owns a to the student’s career path by enhanc-
agricultural school and pushes towards ing training and work opportunities.”
more involvement of the youth in the
sector and encourages them to enroll in
the schools before the end of the regis-
tration date in 2020.
During this session, Abir Abulkhou-
doud from FAO, Josiane Makhoul from
UNICEF, and Fatima Halbawi from MoA
introduced the project and the activities
are undertaken to support technical ag-
riculture education in Lebanon.
The project is working to rehabilitate
and upgrade the seven agricultural tech-
nical schools in Lebanon and to mod-
ernize their curricula. It offers young
Lebanese and displaced Syrians the
possibility to enroll in the three-year Ag-
ricultural Technical Baccalaureate (BTA)

32 Arab Agriculture 2021

White Section 1-48.indd 32 4/20/21 2:51 PM