Damascus-SANA
The Ministry of Agriculture and Agrarian Reform is restoring the agricultural vocational education sector in various governorates by rehabilitating secondary schools destroyed by terrorism, developing curricula, and supporting graduates to launch into the labor market so that this education can restore its role.
The first agricultural vocational high school in Syria was established in 1910 in the city of Salamiyah in Hama governorate. In 2011, its number reached 47 secondary schools with three specializations in agriculture, veterinary and agricultural machinery. Only 19 schools remain in service due to the rest being out of work during the years of the terrorist war. The ministry is approaching today, according to the Director of Education And rehabilitation in it, Engineer Hazar Ismail, from the goal of having 26 schools in service in various governorates.
Ismail revealed that there is a study to develop agricultural vocational education in terms of equipment, equipment, headquarters and the legal framework and to find facilities to motivate teachers to work, explaining that the aim of this education is to graduate qualified agricultural technical cadres in preparation for their entry into the labor market to contribute to the development of the rural community.
In order to preserve the continuity of the educational process despite the challenges imposed by the terrorist war, the Ministry of Agriculture reopened a number of secondary schools and transferred others to new headquarters. To the city of Daraa, and the work was returned to the agricultural secondary school in the city of Homs.
In the countryside of Aleppo, the agricultural secondary school was reopened in Maskana, and in Raqqa, the Ma’dan Agricultural High School was put into service again. In Jableh, a new secondary school was opened, bringing its number to three in Lattakia and in Hama. The Ministry is working to open the Masyaf High School. The opening of an agricultural machinery division at Banias Agricultural High School in Tartous, bringing the number of secondary schools to 26, the three specializations in different governorates.
The number of high school students increased from 4,132 students in the academic year 2019-2020 to 4,566 students in 2020-2021, according to Ismail, who stated that the direct admission rates to universities for the first successful students are 3% from each governorate according to specialization, and 3% for those who follow them by degree of successful ones enter the institutes Also according to jurisdiction.
Regarding the curricula, Ismail explained that, in addition to the materials approved by the vocational education in the Ministry of Education, it includes specialized subjects that are studied in the field or within laboratories equipped with technical equipment equivalent to the laboratories of the faculties of agriculture, revealing the current work and in cooperation with the National Center for the Development of Educational Curricula in the Ministry of Education to prepare curricula that note changes such as changes Climate and natural resource sustainability methods and all forms of rationalization of water, soil, living things and plants.
On the aspect of qualification and training, the Director of Education and Rehabilitation indicated to work to raise the efficiency of teachers through training courses, as they have the academic and practical technical knowledge, but they need to know the teaching methods and deliver the information to the students correctly.
She pointed out that the ministry, in cooperation with the United Nations Development Program, worked on a project to support livelihoods for agricultural technicians targeting high school graduates in the governorates of Damascus, Hama and Lattakia through vocational training for projects popular in the labor market.
Amer Deeb