and it is strongly felt at the Technical Education and Skills
Development Authority's (TESDA) Agricultural Extension Program which
is being bypassed by majority of young Filipinos, contributing to a
low enrollment percentage nationwide.
TESDA Director General Joel Villanueva, who was here Thursday, made
the grim disclosure amidst a growing population which has become
harder to feed, saying that unless the government comes up with more
incentives to prod more Filipinos, particularly the younger generation
to take up farming, farmlands would suffer and hinder any economic
growth. The Philippines aims to advance technologically, but it has
largely remained agricultural.
Villanueva said the current crop of farmers is ageing, with an average
age of 50-55 years old and a dearth of farm workers a few years from
now would aggravate the existing food situation.
The TESDA chief also said that his agency, in a joint effort with the
Department of Agriculture (DA) has been training agricultural workers
to assist farmers to make farming more profitable and attractive.
In a related development, Villanueva bared that numerous TESDA
vocational graduates have found lucrative employment overseas, earning
many times over than finishers of four-year college courses,
reiterating that the global thrust in employment lies in gaining
technical skills through short, vocational courses.
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